I find that one of life’s greatest pleasures is the juxtaposition of contrasts that makes little things more precious: working hard before allowing yourself a day off, sipping an iced drink when the weather is hot, taking a cold shower after a day at the beach, walking in a crowded place before going home, mixing creamy avocado with coarse grains, stretching your muscles after a long trip in a car, resting after a long walk, chatting with strangers then having an intimate conversation with a loved one… Impermanence can be handled with a healthy dose of optimism: after a shitty day comes a better day!
Today was a contrasting day in Nantes. After a week of very hot weather then came a grey sky, lower temperatures and some rain—your typical Brittany “shitty weather” day. But for once, I didn’t mind because we had a lot of sun and blue sky before. I would have reacted differently in November when every day is cloudy and rainy.
No one in Nantes fears rain. It’s business as usual, people still go out and most of us don’t even carry umbrellas or wear rain jackets. Rain is a fact of life in Brittany. You aren’t uncomfortable until you are truly soaked—slightly wet hair doesn’t count. We also developed a sixth sense to avoid stepping into puddles of rain water, much like most French dodge dog poop walking down the street. It comes with the territory…
We gave Mark his rain jacket but my mum and I just wore jeans and t-shirts. As usual, we headed out for a long walk and we enjoyed a deserted city park under the rain, quiet streets with many puddles of water and a stop in a café. At the end of the day, the sun came out and I went out again with the camera (and the non-broken lens…) to capture a few more reflections of the city in puddles of rain water.
I used to loathe the rain in England but since moving to Canada I really appreciate it much more, it makes me feel more at home. You know I normally hate the cooler weather coming in but after this summer I am 100% ready for fall – for winter even.
I think I’ll be ready for fall. Winter… nah 😆
I love reflections too 🙂
One of these precious little things, eh?
Nantes must be like Vancouver. It rained every day I was there but people don’t stay home because of it.
I remember you did a blog on the Tragically Hip. Their final Man Machine Poem tour is tonight. So sad about Gord Downie.
The tour finale gets underway at 8:30 p.m. ET. Full details below.
Watch or listen online (worldwide):
CBCMusic.ca/TheHip.
CBCNews.ca.
CBCSports.ca.
The CBC Music app (for Apple and Android devices).
CBC Music on Apple TV.
YouTube.com/cbcmusic.
Facebook.com/cbcmusic.
ICIMusique.ca.
Watch (nationally):
CBC Television
Listen (nationally):
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio 2
CBC Radio One on Sirius XM Channel 169
Oh, thank you, I’ll try to catch it!
I’m so happy I saw them live a few years ago. There were great.
As you can imagine it was the same in Scotland, you just get used to it 😉
I see you have some leaves on the ground as well. It feels like the Autumn is coming far too quick!
Does it rain as much as the world seems to assume?
Well, I was in Dundee which is the sunniest city in Scotland… And I remember a lot of rain 😉
Being close to the sea though, it will rain for 45 min then the sun will come out and then it will rain again…
It is amazing though, and well worth it when you get a few sunny days.
It is like light rain, a drizzle, or torrential downpours like we see sometimes in Canada (at least in Ontario)? I can deal with a drizzle, but I find it depressing when the sky is always grey.