Living in the heat and watching the vines by Mr L

When one is living through a cold, wet European winter it is always nice to dream of the Cote D’Azur and its sunny balmy days when you can sunbathe and drink wine at a beautiful beach bar.
This is the dream! And it is true, except if you live there you probably feel differently.
For the residents it is too hot with many days at 35 degrees and our only desire is to keep out of the heat and eagerly wait for the evening when it cools down.
Each morning I rise at around 6.30 and by 7.30 am either playing golf or taking my dog for a walk and doing the shopping for my wife. It is also the only time when dogs are allowed on the beach during July and August.
In fact early morning and evening are without doubt the best times.
The time from September to June is magical, in Provence, with less traffic lovely blue skies and temperatures, during the day, between 15-25 degrees.
This gives us all the opportunity to travel to Italy or deeper into France and to spend lazy times eating and enjoying the amazing countryside whilst catching up with our friends.
I have been in the region for nearly 10 years now and I check the time of year by the vines. In Spring one begins to see the new shoots and by June they are really green, by September the grapes have been picked and by October they have turned golden brown. In November the plants have been pruned and are just sticks in the ground and we have to wait for the circle to start again in Spring.
Mr. L 07/07/09