23 October 2012

WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

tap1 The indrois had burst it banks at Génillé at the weekend.

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Before we set off for France on 5th October I checked the weather forecast on the Meteo France website and could not believe my luck.  For the first ten days of our two week holiday the forecast was showing bright yellow circles every day with a few grey droplets on the first Wednesday.  In other words, sunshine with very little rain – and really good temperatures – up to 25°C on our first Sunday. 

We packed our shorts and sandals.

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tap4 The Claise was very high at Abilly on Saturday morning.

We had a horrendous drive down to Folkestone on the Friday morning.  Heavy rain and very busy motorways do not make for relaxed driving.  We arrived at the tunnel, nerves frazzled, but in time to get an earlier train than we had booked.  Which was great because we could not get away from this horrible rain soon enough.

tap9b tap9c Being first on the train in the high carriages means you are also first off.

It was still raining when we got off the train at Calais but the clouds gradually disappeared and the temperature soared.  By the time we got to Le Grand-Pressigny it was 24°C and our beloved blue Loire sky and gorgeous sunshine were there to greet us.

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We spent a happy evening, enjoying apéros in the village square and dining outside on our little terrace.  Little did we know, that was pretty much the last we would see of that sunshine !!

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The Claise was extremely high in the village on Sunday evening.

tap5 A piece of tree trunk was being rolled noisily in the water that tumbled over the weir, reminding us that flood water has hidden dangers.  We could hear the thud, thud, as it crashed around from quite a distance away.

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At one point, it rained almost continuously for about 36 hours.  That’s a lot of water to fall in a short time and it’s not surprising that rivers and streams flooded.  We have never seen the place so wet.

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The rain stopped and there was a lovely sunset on Sunday evening.

Predictably, the rain eventually stopped and the sun came out – on Sunday evening, just before we came home.

tap9We took our customary last walk around the village on as the sun went down.  The village looked as beautiful as it usually does, just to tease, or is it torture us, as if the rain had been a figment of our imagination.

On Monday morning we packed up in brilliant sunshine, which I have to say is a lot better than trying to load a car in the pouring rain.  But we did feel entitled to be a bit miffed that the good weather seemed to have returned the day we were going home.

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Our new umbrella stand came in very handy this holiday !!

All the way home the sun shone, even in northern France, where it was sunny and 23°C !!  On the one hand we were pleased to have an easy journey, on the other we were a bit peeved that we seemed to be leaving the good weather behind us and going home.

When we got off the train at Folkestone, to fight our way home on the English motorways, it was dark and foggy.  My dad, bless him, had been to the house and put the central heating back on for when we got home.  Welcome to England !!

16 comments:

  1. What a shame that you had a wet holiday here, but we were glad of the downpour, didn't flood, and can now get digging the veg plot ready for next spring. It is sunny here again. Hope the weather is better in the UK for you.

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  2. That is a LOT of water, Jean, but as Vera says, it really was needed. Just a shame that it had to come all at once and exactly while you were there, but I bet you still enjoyed yourselves.

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  3. This is the rainiest October we've had since we moved here in 2003, Jean.

    By the way, here's a link to my blog post about the Jacques Pépin soufflé which doesn't require beating the egg whites. Very easy to make.

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  4. I have found French forecasts very 'unpredictable' -- maybe they are right, maybe they are not! So sorry to hear that your timing this time was not so good -- except for coming and going. We waited and waited for rain last summer and were very frustrated that it should descend upon us while packing up the car to leave. Later we discovered that it ceased raining by the time we had left the Lot and were buzzing up the N20!

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  5. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that all the rain you've had in the past couple of weeks will mean that some pleasant sunny autumn weather is due.

    Hope the weather didn't put too much of a damper on your time in LG-P.

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  6. Sorry that your holiday was so wet. We have had more than enough rain for the time being, we saw a blue sky yesterday, the first in about 2 weeks!! Have a good day Diane

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  7. Jean, the brolley stand looks good just there.
    You wouldn't want to be here this week either... at the moment.... Brume et Brouillard.
    As I type, I can only just make out the shape of the trees along the river bank directly ahead and I can't see the ends of the field when I look out of the window... yesterday it didn't clear until gorn twelve!!
    But when the sun came out.... we couldn't use the bench outside the door... the cats had grabbed it first!

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  8. Such a shame you had a rainy holiday. But at least it began and ended in sunshine. I'm fascinated by the [useless] weather forecasts. Yesterday, we were in the midst of a two-hour downpour. I checked online to see what was in store. According to one weather site, the sun was shining brightly here in Sevilla (and, yes, I refreshed the screen)!

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  9. It's a shame that the weather did not cooperate this time during your holiday, but at least you were still able to get away for a little while.
    Very thoughtful of your dad to turn the heat on before you arrived back in damp foggy England.
    Next time will be better...I'm sure.

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  10. It is hard to imagine scenes like this, given where I live. In a perverse way I am comforted to know rain can still do this !

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  11. What a lovely new header!

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  12. Shame! Just two or three days on the trot would have made all the difference. All the same, I would have swapped places with you.
    As we'll be going through the tunnel in future, can you recommend a time and day for going through?

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    1. Ken, we time our journeys in order to avoid the worst of the traffic in the south of England. So we leave home at 3.30 or 4.00 am, which means we do the Dartford crossing before most of the commuter traffic joins the zillions of lorries on the motorways. We then get a train about 7.30 or 8.00 am.

      Coming back, we get a train about 8.30 or 9.00 pm, which means we arrive in the UK when a lot of the commuter traffic has gone, but it's still extremely busy. We then get home around midnight.

      The worst time to travel is to leave home after work, at 5.00 or 6.00 pm, due to the volume of rush-hour traffic on the motorways.

      Our easiest journeys have been on leaving home very late at night, say 10.00 or 11.00 pm, and getting a train in the early hours of the morning. At that time we only have wall-to-wall lorries to deal with on the motorways - they are usually fairly well behaved. It's when the commuter traffic joins in that the roads become mayhem.

      I hope this helps !!

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  13. October has been far wetter than last year or the year before. Sadly it was just as misty, rainy and murky during our visit in Edinburgh last week: just colder!

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  14. Well, a wet holiday, indeed. We've got snow, instead of rain.

    BTW, how did Lulu take to the showers?

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    1. Snow, ugh !!
      Mind you, we had a light sprinkling of snow in Derbyshire a couple of days ago, which is a bit early to say the least.

      Lulu hates the rain. She sometimes hides when it's time for her walk !! The good thing is, at least she doesn't want to go too far when it's raining, which is good for us !!

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