After our snow fall last Thursday, Friday was Freezing but sunny.When we drove home from a restaurant in Apt at midnight it was minus 3 degrees.
On Saturday morning we went to the market in Apt where people were sitting outside enjoying the warm winter sunshine.
During the afternoon the cloud spread in , followed by a brisk wind. By early evening it began to rain, then pour becoming torrential through the night.Our shutters are not yet fixed and we were awoken by the constant banging of the lose shutters, so much so that in the early hours of the morning I was out side in the wind and rain removing them from their hinges!
The strength of the wind grew and we are told a hurricane came through the region. On Sunday the torrential rain was relentless, like I have never seen before, the on slaught of thunder and lightening added to what really was quite frightening.
Apt our nearest town and about 7 kilometres away is at the bottom of the valley. Running through it is the Calivon River which is largely fed by the Snow melt in the Alpes, which was happening due to the recent snow falls and rapidly increasing temperatures. As a result of this and the rain the River burst its banks wiping out the car park used every week by thousands of tourists who visit the famous market. At one stage the River was less than a metre from the bridge in the picture. As you can see the surfaces have been destroyed.
The knock on effect of this rain fall has been rather disruptive to our site to put it mildly! we are living in a mudbath!
The guys on site who turn up what ever the weather are doing their best to get us protected with two coats of render before the end of this week when they finish for a fortnight. However the Manitou has torn all the ground up and we are getting seroious fed up with it! This region has an averidge rain fall of 60cm, so far this year we have doubled that at 1.2 metres. Thank fully the forecast is dry and sunny after tomorrow - that's a good reason to celebrate!
