Saturday morning coffee – with a view…

It’s been an amazing last couple of weeks – over 20°C most days in Beaune and over 23°C for a few of those. Just see the effect on the monthly temperatures versus the average – right – from the redoutable Dr Serge Zaka

At home, I can jog in the mountains in November and there’s no snow right now at 2,300 metres – I did that yesterday – in shorts and a t-shirt – but it would have been the same today, i.e. November! One of my neighbours’ trees has some cherry blossom and returning to Beaune for a moment I’ve seen photos of vines developing new leaves! Of course, that may end with a bump at the end of this week when there maybe a chance of frost on Saturday.

The most obvious result of the year’s weather in Beaune is that the trees in the town are yet to shed their leaves – I’ve never seen so many birds coming to roost at night. It’s a very dangerous place to park right now – and doesn’t smell so great either – such that the local town council are becoming worried about the Hospices de Beaune wine auction in 3 weeks – there are lots of white tents in Beaune at this time 😉 They have reportedly considered trying to shoot some of the birds but there are literally thousands of them so this seems a no-starter. I have helpfully suggested that they could cut down all the trees 🙂

Back to Beaune today but for now, how about some nice (snow free!) mountain tracks/views between 1,500 and 2,100 metres from yesterday: