Just 'chilling' but the temperature's rising

We enjoy some sleep ins and catch up on the washing. A trip to Intermarche restocks the fridge and the temperatures start to rise. We make the most of cool mornings to finally clear the last of the old timber from the old shed, across to Le Palais de Bois and the chainsaw works overtime.

On Wednesday the pool temperature reached 22 degrees so we cautiously entered the water. Yes, even Roger took the plunge, and declared it quite refreshing!
On Thursday however, our swimming days were temporarily curtailed as Gael, the pool man came to replace the cover of the hydrostatic valve. This involved him getting in the pool, holding onto a pole, held by Roger to stay under water, and unscrewing the cover. Not only was the cover cracked but also the seal that holds the pool liner in place, which has resulted in several ridges in the liner. A new liner is now on the more urgent list, but hopefully not till the end of summer. There were also some chemical imbalances which meant no swimming for 3 days while Roger followed Gaels recipe to get the balance correct.
And yesterday, all was right with the pool again, which was just as well because the temperature hit 42 degrees in the shade under the pear tree. The pool is sitting at 28 degrees and we've been ducking in and out like yoyos to keep cool.

We did venture out over the weekend, hitting le marche early on Saturday morning to avoid the heat. There's a carnival in town, part of Les fete de musique, a French tradition, where musicians were requested by Napoleon to provide free music for the poor people back in the early 1800's. All the typical 'show stands', dodgems, clowns and crazy rides filled the town square, but were not opening till later that day. However, as we turned to corner to our cafe/bar, we were surprised to find it only just setting up. So we joined in to help before getting un cappucino. We're guessing the 'show gang' might just have had a big night in the bar after they'd set up the night before, and our cafe staff were suffering as a result.

We brought another feed of delicious moules and some fresh Sardines, to cook on the BBQ, and enjoyed simple fare and salads, in the garden. We also explored a Brocante in St Julien, which was well patronised, but still mostly garage sale material which is not on our current shopping list. The local charity did do a good 'sausages and chips' with a cold beer in a €1 promo cup so this filled the hole for lunch. And then we retreated to our cool house which is maintaining a steady 28 degrees inside.

We are now on 'red alert ' along with 2/3rds of France and the week ahead shows no sign of a reprieve from the high temperatures, up to 43 degrees tomorrow and Wednesday. We're just glad we're not in the city, where the pavements and buildings radiate even more heat. Trains have been cancelled and schools closed in this unseasonal heatwave. Luckily were just getting things spick and span for the owners arrival next Sunday afternoon, by which time the temperature should be closer to 30 degrees.Læs mere