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Southern France
Lynn Deasy is a freelance writer, author, foodie, and garden tinkerer. She lives in a 600 year old house in southern France with her husband, Christophe. Currently, she is looking for a literary agent for her memoir CA VA? STORIES FROM RURAL LIFE IN SOUTHERN FRANCE which examines the oddities of French provincial living from an outsider’s point of view through a series of adventures that provide more than a fair share of frustration, education, admiration, and blisters…. yes, lots and lots of blisters. Lynn blogs every Monday, Wednesday, and sometimes Friday.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Les Giboulées de Mars


 
In like a lion and out like a lamb….
We might wait for the lamb-like gentleness of late March, but in France, the lion and lamb part of the weather are all mixed together in one day.  “Les giboulées de mars”, translated as “spring downpours” is the transitional moment between winter and spring with strong winds, random showers, snow, hail, and plunging temperatures.  Often, between showers, the sun comes out and gives the impression of a pleasant day.
The first of the month, we were graced with 10 inches of snow, which melted the next in the near 60 degree (F) temperatures.  That was followed by two days of non-stop monsoon like rain, a day of sun, and then grey skies which occasionally showered us with hail or melted snow.  Today, snow has been predicted and we’re hovering around freezing.
I guess whatever you call March, where ever you are, March is March.  It’s not the luminous joys of winter nor the soft tender greens of spring.  It’s a passage between the two, sometimes all in one day or painfully stretched out over a month. “Les giboulées de mars”, or “the lion and the lamb” are the harbingers of spring, which everyone impatiently waits for, no matter where you are.

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