Never Rains But It Pours

Last Thursday we were scheduled to have a storm in the afternoon but did expect one which started at 1 o'clock and was just about tailing off at 10 in the evening. John took himself off to Toulouse hospital early in the morning as I was not fit enough to drive down to Toulouse and back up to Limoge to collect our friend Betty. However our friends Sue and Jon kindly stepped into the breach and agreed to collect Betty. However there are breaches and there are breaches and I dont suppose for a moment they expected to encounter the conditions which they did. The tempest raged all the way there and back, except on their return journey they had to contend with floods and torrents of water gushing across the roads. Betty's plane eventually landed an hour late having landed once but then taken off again instantly. Presumably not being able to stop due to the volume of water on the run way.

Meanwhile, chez nous, there was feverish activity with every one trying, in vain , to keep the water out of their caves. Suddenly I forgot the "bad back" which I had been nursing all week as I tried to change the direction of the "river" which was rushing down the hill and flooding the porcherie. After about 20 minutes I succombed to the greater forces of nature!! We ended up with an inch thick layer of mud and slurry in our front porch but nothing inside.






On returning home Sue and Jon had to start bailing out their own cave and kitchen. I bet they'll think twice about doing somebody a favour next time.
However in reality we got off very lightly here compared to Cahors which had cars swept away as roads became rivers. All the new cars in the Ford garage ended up in a heap of useless metal. I hope to add some pictures courtesy of the local press, when my technical assistant returns from hospital.




Its all cleared up now despite 2 days of more thundery showers.