Our restaurant tonight, Pizzeria La Roma, has a disorienting set of mirrors along the back wall - when you see someone walking past reflected in one you expect to see them step into the next, but they don’t. That’s our server for the evening on the left.
With our amazing view of Canigou from our room, we were looking forward to the sunrise. The mountain was almost clear as the sky lightened, but then clouds moved in rapidly from the right as we watched. By the time sunrise occurred it was completely under wraps but revealed itself briefly a few moments later. It was an interesting spectacle to watch, visibly changing from one moment to the next.
Canigou was completely behind the clouds two minutes ago and would be again soon. We were lucky to get the look we did.
Rich Frasier and I have been chatting about the weather. He lives about an hour’s drive north of here so he knows the territory and brings me up to speed on what’s happening here at the moment: we’re experiencing a tramontane.
Perhaps I’ve heard of a tramontane before but I don’t recall it. It’s very much like the mistral winds of Provence though, which I have heard of. They’re both forceful weather events driven by pressure differentials between the north and the south. When conditions are right they produce a mistral: a prolonged period of strong, cold winds that blast down the Rhone Valley between the gap between the Alps and the Central Massif and being misery to Provence for a few days.
The tramontane is much the same, but it pushes down the gap between the Pyrenees and the Central Massif to wash over Occitanie. We’re experiencing a tramontane now, and it’s phenomenal. Yesterday’s winds were just the warmup act, and today is even worse. Sometime in the middle of the night I was awakened to a sound I couldn’t place at first but then realized it was the moaning of the wind. The wind has been moaning more or less nonstop ever since and looks set to continue for at least another day or two. It’s been like this most of the day today:
I had a possible day ride mapped out for today but conditions put it out of the question. We hardly even left the room all day except for meals, a trip to the nearby laundry service, and brief walks through the neighborhood. It didn’t take long at all before the wind and cold drove us back inside. I stayed out longer than Rachael, who was warming herself up with a cup of tea when I returned. She ordered me to stop at the door and not touch my hair while she reached for the camera.
The interior of the cathedral. The lighting was fascinating, with sunlight streaming in through the stained glass windows. Suddenly the interior would go dark when the sun went behind the clouds, until the lights suddenly came back on again.
“The Saint-Jean cloister-cemetery, known as Campo Santo since its restoration, was built in the 14th century. The galleries of the cloister were covered with a wooden lean-to supported by columns with carved capitals. Each enfeu, in a refined Gothic style, is marked with the crest of the wealthy Perpignan families.”
In Barrio Rchino, our restaurant for the night - clearly inspired by the fact that it’s directly behind the cinema. Here, Rachael is pleased with herself for recognizing a young Meryl Streep. Not bad, but I got Belmondo, Delon, Deneuve and Bardot.
Barrio Tchino is a candidate for our favorite restaurant of the tour. We ate here by a lucky chance - Rachael was looking for a restaurant close to the hotel because of the wind.
Susan CarpenterNo tramontane here in Paris but we did get snow, rain and a mix of both - along with bracing wind and highs about 36°F/2°C.
Any idea of how long the tramontane lasts? Hopefully things will settle down and you'll be on the road soon. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Rachael AndersonTo Susan CarpenterWow! You had snow and wind! It looks like it shouldn’t last too much longer. I’ll bet you’ll be glad to head to Italy soon! Reply to this comment 2 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Susan CarpenterDurations vary, may last up to 72 hours - which looks like ours is at the high end.
Snow in Paris in April? Amazing. rich reports that they may see snow down here in Limoux also. It’s really very cold here today.
And I was surprised to see this comment, because I didn’t know I’d published this post yet. It was still mostly incomplete, but is done now. Reply to this comment 2 years ago
