Gone with the Wind

France is a beautiful country with hills, mountains, rivers, seas--and wind. The Mistral winds of Provence in southeast France blow south from the Alps through the Rhone Valley to the Mediterranean Sea. We experienced the force of the Mistral this week when it caused the shutters of the house to flap and blew garden chairs about. Here is a collection of explanations about the Mistral from a variety of sources.
 
The photo above was taken by Rachel Cobb in 2013 at Prado Beach in Marseille where the Mistral kicked up waves to about 30 feet in the air. Cobb has been studying the winds in France for 20 years and says:

"The Mistral touches almost every aspect of life in Provence, between the architecture, food and salt production, art, and literature."

To the people of Provence, the Mistral is a local menace. It regularly ruins weddings, steals hats and scarves with ease and, at its worst, this epic wind has the strength to sweep up metal chairs and smash them into neighbouring windows. Even so, I think maybe they actually like it. What I feel is that it’s a source of pride among the Provincials, a way of defining the region. They can withstand it, and they’ve learned to live with it.” (British Journal of Photography, Nov 12, 2018)

 

This map shows the force of the mistral one day in November 2008 where the wind reached a speed of 50 mph, with average speeds of more than 31 mph an hour near Marseille.






The mistral takes place each time there is an area of high pressure, in the Bay of Biscay, and an area of low pressure around the Gulf of Genoa. When this happens, the flow of air between the high and low pressure areas draws in a current of cold air from the north which accelerates through the lower elevations between the foothills of the Alps and the Cevennes. The conditions for a mistral are even more favorable when a cold rainy front has crossed France from the northwest to the southeast as far as the Mediterranean. This cold, dry wind usually causes a period of cloudless skies and luminous sunshine, which gives the mistral its reputation for making the sky especially clear. (Wikipedia.)

The bell tower of the hilltop village of La Cadière-d'Azur
is open, which allows the mistral to pass through.

 The winds of Provence, particularly the Mistral, have long had an influence on the architecture of Provence. Many Provençal churches have open iron grill bell towers, which allow the Mistral wind to pass through.


 

The mas (farmhouse) traditionally faces south, with its back to the Mistral.

The traditional Provençal Christmas creche often features one "santon," or Provençal character, holding his hat and wearing a cape billowing from the Mistral.

 

 



 Van Gogh actually found the wind stimulating and headed out into the full force of it to capture the impact it had on the local countryside.

The Olive Trees

 








The mistral also has its plus points, says Angela in her blog, Provence Calling. 

Locally they call it mange fange, (swamp eater) as it blows stagnant waters dry and stops disease from spreading.  It also keeps the Rhône vines free of mildew, which we can all be grateful for and frees the air of pollution and dust.

Once the wind has moved on, it will disappear as quickly as it appeared, leaving behind a sense of peace and serenity; the sun feels warm and everyone comes out from their houses as once again the World outside seems a better place to be.

Wind itself is celebrated every September at the Fête du Vent 

(festival of the wind) on Prado Beach in Marseille, Sept 14 2002. 

Photo by Rachel Cobb.