Back to normality

I'm sure many of you have heard about the huge storms in south-west France. Well, they are the reason for my period of silence.

There were warnings last friday that there was going to be bad weather but most people did not expect it to be like it was.

More than a million people did not have electricity due to gusts which reached 170 kilometres per hour and many also lost their supply of water.

I was awakened early on Saturday morning by the sound of the wind pummeling my shutters and I was certain that they would burst open and shatter the windows! I managed to get back to sleep but I knew that there would be some damage.

I was glad to see that the damage wasn't too bad at Bouillon. A few trees had been uprooted and some roof tiles had fallen. But there was no electricity....

However, we were extremely lucky compared to those who live further north.

On Sunday, we had lunch at Olivier's, a close friend of Minette and Rory. He lives further north in the Landes region, which was the worst affected part of France. Here are some pics to give you an idea of how bad the damage was. The estate was full of huge pine tress and hundreds have been destroyed.

Living in Malaysia, I'm used to the occasional power cut which lasts for a few hours but I wasn't prepared for nearly four days without any electricity!

It wasn't all that bad as there is a gas cooker and oven, we still had running water and we kept a fire going in the drawing-room which kept the room warm. We also had plenty of candles but it still was extremely dark in the house.

It did feel like I was stepping back in time as I read my book by candlelight next to a fire. I can now truly understand why candles were considered a luxury as most houses would be pitch black by 7 o'clock 150 years ago.

Anyway, I was pleasantly surprised when I returned from work on Tuesday to find the house fully-lit and fully-heated and so I promptly had my first proper shower in three and a half days!

I guess now I can better appreciate the things we take for granted, such as electricity or hot water as everyday life as we now know it would be very different without them.
Normality has been restored.