Gone With the Wind

Our brave tree, a Survivor

On Saturday, we experienced our very own Caribbean-esque storm here in Toulouse. The wind howled at more than 150 km/hr all day, creating a very eerie atmosphere (shutters banged, trees creaked, electricity cables wobbled dramatically…).
FH spent most of the day with his nose pressed against the window, providing live, breathless commentary on the state of the rather large tree (see above) that was bending and swaying just in front of our house.
“It’s going… it’s going! No, no, it’s OK! Wait! It’s going, it’s going...!”
And so it went on. For hours. FH has never been one to shy away from a bit of drama…

It has to be said, we don’t usually get much in the way of extreme weather down here in the south-west of France. A sprinkling of snow (and that sends the city into turmoil) and a very hot summer are about as extreme as it gets. So people tend to get a little over-excited when a wind storm of this calibre hits us.

Anyway, w escaped not too badly, all things considered. Sure, the chimney didn’t survive (but it has been teetering precariously since about 1945…), and the streets are littered with fallen branches, but no-one here was injured, not even the Twingo, and our good old tree survived.

FH gathered all this information first-hand. He became self-appointed damage inspector next morning, authoritatively patrolling the neighbourhood with Gruff Old Man (our neighbour).They were very sweet. I suspect that, deep down, they’re almost a tiny bit disappointed that the storm has passed…