And The Winds Came

On Saturday the 24th January 2009, we woke to the wind blowing. The wind was still blowing 2 hours later when we left the house for a trip to Montpellier, a little over 100km away. We planned to join friends in Agde, and travel in together by train.
Our journey was hampered by falling branches, fallen trees, and the wind that seemed to get stronger and stronger, but for some reason, we ignored the evidence, and continued on regardless.


We parked at the railway station in Agde (under trees!) and made our way to Montpellier, catching the train with one whole minute to spare. After a nice day in the city, we returned to Montpellier station for our journey home. We were informed by staff that all trains and buses out of the city had been cancelled. No refunds or advice were on offer. We left the station and tried to find a hotel for the night. All the hotels near the station were booked, but fortunately, we managed to secure 2 rooms in the Ibis Hotel in the heart of the city. This unplanned stay in the city allowed us to wonder around and discover new places. We ate at the Bistro d'Alco which is now our favorite eatery in the city... only 17 Euros for three courses.


The following day we decided to find out about trains and arrived in time to board the only train that morning, with the following train 4 hours away, if at all. The weather was fantastic when we returned to Agde and we were pleased to see our car in one piece. We popped into Marseillan for breakfast where the temperature was 21 degrees.

After breakfast the trip to Cruzy took quite a while. A large sign in the road informed us that roads ahead were closed. We followed other routes and kept coming across trees over the roads.

Eventually we entered the village by driving thought the vineyards only to discover the village was without power for the 2nd day... and bits of render from our house had fallen into the road.
We got the candles out and lit the fire.

Lucky we had experienced a number of blackouts in Cruzy in our first year, so we have liquid fuel heaters, a gas cooker, and torches in every room.

Of course, our fridge was reliant on electricity and when the power returned close to 10pm, our food was defrosted and had to be binned. The guy across the road said he had purchased a freezer that guaranteed 24 hours before the food would begin to thaw. We went for the one that looked nice.

Christmas is over