Hi<BR><BR>The mistral ...................... the truth<BR><BR>Hi<BR><BR>I live between Nimes and Montpellier.<BR><BR>Fact<BR><BR>1) It blows down the Rhone valley, so I am partly sheltered. It is at its worst in Avignon, Arles.<BR>2) It blows for 3,6,9 days....... 9 very rarely<BR>3) It is very dry (20%), with blue skies<BR>4) In winter it is cold<BR>5) In summer it is ambient temp and refreshing<BR>6) It only blows a few times each year<BR>7) Thats it !<BR><BR>Peter

Still blowing tonight!!<BR>Someone asked for a meteorological explanation; here it is (free translation form a French weather site): <BR><BR>The wind is a movement of air. The wind always blows from the atmospheric high pressure areas towards the zones of low pressures. The differences in atmospheric pressure are primarily due to the differences in temperature: the air which is heated dilates and rises, the colder air relatively heavier comes to take its place: the wind blows. Atmospheric pressure is measured in hecto pascals (hpa). The normal pressure on the sea level is of 1013 hpa. Above that, one speaks about high pressure (anticyclone): below that of low pressures (depression). But it is especially the difference in pressure between two places which is to be taken into account: the more significant it is, the stronger the wind will blow extremely. The rotation of the earth also has an influence on the direction of the winds.<BR><BR>The mistral is a wind of the North-West (NW) to North (N), cool or cold and often strong, which affects the North of the basin of the Western Mediterranean. It is called tramontana in the South-west of France, mistral in Provence and on the Riviera, but it is the same wind which can blow until the south of the Balearic Islands and reach the north of Tunisia. However, one should be wary of local names: in Nice, for example, any cold wind is qualified as mistral, even if it comes from south-west (SW). In Corsica, where it blows rather of the West (W), only its temperature makes it possible to distinguish it from Libeccio, which is a strong wind or violent one of W with SW. Sometimes in Marseilles, one tends to call mistral a simple thermal breeze of good weather (of western sector) which became a bit stronger!<BR>The appearance of the mistral (and the Tramontana) is related to the arrival of a fresh maritime flow of Atlantic origin, or of a continental cold flow, which arrives to the Mediterranean through the col of Lauragais and the Rhone-Saone corridor.

I toured Provence(Gordes) in early June. The winds were indeed extraordinarily noticable. Was that the Minstral? S

No, Sylvie, that was the minstrel.

My dear, it was your menstrual.

<BR>Sylvie: was it wind from the North? Then it was mistral.<BR>This explains why most houses, especially older ones, in Provence face South: both the front door and the back yard. North side walls will only have a couple of small windows. That is why landscapes are lined with beautiful cypress walls: windbreakers for the crops.<BR>Dianne: please do not worry about it. It is, always has, and probably always will be part of life in Provence.

From where does the Mistral commence? The alps?

<BR> The answer, my friend<BR><BR> is blowin in the wind

It must be like its Greek counterpart, the meltemi; experienced it during an entire stay on Mykonos in May,'97. It was very annoying and just never stopped, night and day for 3 days! Only good feature, from tourists' point of view, was that it prevented cruise ships from coming into the harbor, so we almost had the island to ourselves! Jewelers were supposedly reducing prices b/c business was so bad w/o the daytrippers! So far have been lucky enough to avoid the Mistral in Provence!

<BR>The mistral stopped during the night.<BR>This morning is absolutely gorgeous.<BR>Fresh air, and a picture perfect blue sky!

So that was less than 48 hours. I think I could manage that. Honestly gloomy rainy weather would affect me more than a little (ok, big) wind. I'll keep Provence on my list!

So did it last 3, 6 or 9 days?

Etymology: French, from Proven&ccedil;al, from "mistral" (masterful), from Late Latin "magistralis" (of a teacher.) <BR><BR>Masterful sounds quite appropriate.

Something about this thread makes me want to make a fart joke.