La Canicule…

Heatwave! Like the rest of France (and most of the world) we are suffering from protracted heat – thankfully only the first canicule of this summer but nonetheless unwelcome and full of misery.

We are trying to rise early and do our work in the cooler morning hours. Then we retreat into the house for the hot afternoons. Fortunately its stonewalls and terra cotta floors retain cooler air, and the kitchen in particular benefits from the wide porch roof that wards off the afternoon sun.

Although nighttime brings relief ,it is hard to sleep when sweat soaks your bedclothes and sheets stick to your skin. Despite having a fan blowing directly on the bed, Francesco fled to the porch the other night and slept for a time on a comforter stretched over the concrete floor.

Arcadio is a real champ at finding shady spots in which to laze. He moves around during the day avoiding the sun, hiding in such places as under the big boxwood bush in the backyard, or in a narrow strip of shade along the far side of the house.

Nationally, a canicule can be a disaster in France – a country almost bereft of air conditioning. We were on holiday in Burgundy during the infamous summer of 2003 when nearly 15,000 French died of heat-related causes. Francesco & I both recall sitting on a bench in the train station at Auxerre pouring bottled water over our heads.

It was so hot that day that we took sanctuary in the big cathedral, snoozing for several hours on the wooden pews and watching another canny cat lolling on the cool marble altar – looking all the world like the intended victim of a pending pagan ritual.