Alex in Agde before they put the COLD in the wind!!
I love southern France! I love pretty much everything about living in this part of the world! Except for the last two days…
An unexpected cold settled upon the region last week. Weather like they have not seen since, maybe, 60 years ago! It started when I was in Poitiers last week. I returned to Narbonne to find frozen pipes. The situation resolved itself by the afternoon. Fast forward to yesterday. We woke up to no water. OK. We can wait it out…for, like, a few hours!?! I received many invitations to shower at the neighbors or at the home of a colleague but I decided to wait it out one more day. This morning…no water!
This afternoon, in the photocopy room, amidst invitations to shower and other offers of hospitality, I broke down and cried! On the one hand, I felt overwhelmed and happy by the kind offers of help. On the other hand, I just felt like being home. I wanted to be home.
I am so lucky to have colleagues that want to help me. But most of all, my English teaching team! They all invited me in to their homes should I need to use the facilities. My friend, Françoise, invited us for dinner and a shower. I was determined to get my water running, however. That is where my neighbor and fellow teacher at Lacroix stepped in. Thierry and I sat out at the curb, braving the coldest wind you could imagine, with two blow dryers! We thawed those pipes within 15 minutes!
I immediately did the dishes once the water returned! Now, I am about to take a quiche out of the oven! All is back to normal. Ahh.
l'été en France 
The water and electricity went out all the time when I lived in Trinidad. I appreciate so many things now that I’m back in San Diego!
I think the loss of water is almost worse but I can’t imagine BOTH! We were lucky to at least have a nice warm house.
Love your final solution! That would happen to us in Napa! After a few times we gave those pipes blanket wraps each winter when it got cold. There is nothing I hate missing more than a nice hot shower!! Glad all is well.
Yeah, the neighbor had wrapped the pipes when the weather turned so drastically cold but mine still froze. That cold wind hits directly on the door so we parked a car in front of it to block the wind. It is sure nice to hear from you. I remember that house in Napa like it was yesterday.