So far we've had a little of everything (except snow) – clouds, rain, the Mistral1, brilliant sun (the Impressionists had the right idea), spring peeper serenades, windfall oranges (see Mistral above), and 3 (and fewer)-star restaurant meals.
We did miss:
Unfortunately we did inadvertently select a time that included two National Monday holidays – Labor Day (May 1) and VE Day (May 8). That does cut down on the shopping opportunities but also the museum-going.
If this sounds like a movie, the Cannes Film Festival does begin next week.
Au Revoir for now.
1 Provençals have since told us that the Mistral, a dry, cold wind that sweeps down the Rhone to the Mediterranean, would only in rare instances extend as far east as Nice. We were probably experiencing the Ponant – whatever the name, St-Jean-Cap-Ferrat’s flotilla of sailboats remained in harbor for its duration.
2 The next week we learned that such backups aren’t insignificant. When we were traveling from Cannes to St-Remy-de-Provence, a distance of about 145 miles, or less than two hours at the Autoroute speed limit of 140 kph, we heard warnings on the radio traffic report that both directions were affected by an accident. The direction we were traveling had a 3-km backup. (Even understanding this much of the DJ’s rapid-fire French took several hearings.) It didn’t sound that bad, since the alternate route was a winding, hilly road through small towns. If they had told us it that it would take 45 minutes I would have changed my mind.