So I’ve been coming here nearly 20 years (2013 is the 20th anniversary of our first date), and I’ve got used to the fact that it rains a lot round here. Plancher Bas in particular is a meteorological “hole” and it will rain there sometimes when it isn’t raining elsewhere. Furthermore, the weather can get stuck in the hills and just rolls around and around.

I don’t suppose Auxelles Bas is much different, though it is sort of on the other side of one of the hills. (I’ve been mentally planning a cycle route for the summer, and there’s no avoiding at least one substantial Tour de France style climb.)

Anyway, it has rained a lot recently, probably more than usual, which means that it has fucking rained a fucking lot.

But yesterday was quite lovely, as I blogged, and I could stand in the garden in my shirt sleeves and take the picture above, which shows the Alps in the distance.

So here’s what people say round here: when the air is so clear that you can see the Alps, it’s going to rain.

That’s your local weather lore. And they weren’t wrong. It was raining again this morning. And today you couldn’t see the mountains. But here’s what I say: if you can’t see the Alps, it’s probably raining right now. And if you can see them, well, it’s always just finished or just about to start raining around here. Alps or no Alps, it means the same thing.