Goodbye June, hello July: summer in France

June hollyhocks in the garden

I’ve always liked June. It is a transitional month that promises so much; spring becomes summer, the days are long and evenings lazy, and there is a sense of pre-holiday mood all around. Normally, the weather is neither too hot nor too cold, although this year proved to be an exception. Now it’s over, I’d go so far as to say I’m glad to see the back of what has been a demanding month, with lots to challenge our routine. 

Sarlat, Dordogne

 

The month of May ended on a high with a four-day holiday in Sarlat, in the Dordogne, cycling, eating and seeing the sights. Covid-19 then reared its head and got a bit closer to home than was comfortable. Adrian’s Mum, in the UK, tested positive and was rapidly put on the new antiviral medication and monitored daily by a team of specialist nurses from her local hospital. Whilst it was worrying she had the virus, the care she received was incredibly reassuring for us and I’m pleased to say, she made a superb recovery. Here in the Deux-Sèvres, Pearl’s parents also tested positive, meaning Ed and Pearl were contact cases and we had to make the tough call to cancel a planned weekend with them. Thankfully they escaped, which was just as well as all this happened within a week of Ed’s planned wisdom teeth extraction. My poor baby had to have all four taken out, under general anaesthetic, in one morning, but thanks to an excellent selection of drugs, was remarkably chatty by the evening. My parents in the UK were also contact cases for Covid-19, but miraculously stayed clear, then my boss at the chateau tested positive. In all the time since the pandemic began, I’ve never known as many people Covid-positive, as in June. It was a timely reminder that it hasn’t gone away despite the vaccination programme and the relaxing of rules and mask-wearing requirements. 

The church in Aubigné

 

The weather in June was a real challenge, swinging from an officially categorised heatwave, that resulted in weather warnings severe enough to cancel indoor and outdoor public events, to storms that wreaked havoc. The local village of Aubigné, which had one of the prettiest churches in the area, was struck by lightning. The resulting fire felled the spire and caused major damage to the steeple. The local news was full of articles about storm and hail damage to houses and cars, as well as sunflower fields in the Charente and vineyards in Cognac and Bordeaux that were flattened by hail the size of tennis balls. Many areas around Angoulême suffered flooding from rain that once it started to fall, seemed never to stop. 

 

The thermometer has fluctuated from crazy highs of 39°c to lows of just 7°c, resulting in bike rides that have been hot and sweaty or so cold my nose hasn’t stopped running and my fingers have turned a deathly white from the Reynaud’s that normally only hits over winter. Some days at work I’ve been wrapped up in three layers, glad I’d packed my emergency vest, other days I’ve walked barefoot on the cool flagstone floors while the rooms at the top of the tower have been a stifling 46°c. 

 

If this isn’t a wake-up call to climate change and the damage we are doing to the planet, I don’t know what will make people take note and act. 

 

We tried our best throughout the madness of the weather to stick to our rule of only using the car for journeys over ten kilometres, but flooded roads and rumbling storms forced me into the car twice, which did nothing to improve my mood. 

July sunflowers and a return of the blue skies

 

July has begun with a promising start, in that there was no sound of pouring rain to accompany my first waking moments on Friday. However, at only 10°c it was a chilly cycle to the chateau for work and I abandoned my summer dress for jeans and a jumper. The Tour de France is now underway and this year we get a full month of the best of French road racing, three weeks for the men’s tour followed by one for the inaugural women’s tour, and I can’t wait. We will also have the excitement of Le Tour 79, our local professional cycling stage race, coming through our village before the final stage finishes in Chef-Boutonne. July will also see a return to village summer outdoor events, many that haven’t taken place for the last two years. Covid-19 numbers are rising here though, and masks are once again being advised, so I can only hope that the weather and the virus allow these planned events to go ahead. 

The July edition of The Deux-Sèvres Monthly

 

The blog might have been a bit quiet recently, but in the July edition of the Deux-Sèvres Monthly magazine (that you can read online here) you will find my top five tips for enjoying a visit to the Chateau de Javarzay, as well as my usual five-hundred-word column.

 

I’m also delighted to share that I’m one of the writers who has a short story published in an anthology that is available now on Amazon. I’ve Got Something MORE to Say: Transition, by Women’s Voices Southwest France, is a collection of short stories, poems and art from 45 women, on the theme of transition. You can read more about this inspiring group of women in this excellent blog by local author Harriet Springbett, who was at the launch party last weekend. Much as I would have loved to be there, work at the chateau would have meant making the ten-hour return drive in a day, and I’d rather have taken my time and gone by bike. 

 

Here’s wishing you a fantastic July, we all deserve one and I hope France will feature somewhere in your plans, even if it is just watching some stages of Le Tour de France on TV, or escaping to France in the pages of a book. Here are some links to my last book reviews if you need any inspiration:

Summer at the French Café

The Italian Job (it’s over the border but it is set in a chateau)

The French for Murder

Daisy’s French Farmhouse

Five Dead Men