Sud de France 3.5: The Storms of October

The Tramontane has been roaring out of the North now for three days. It’s a cold dry wind that comes down out of the Atlantic and squeezes through the Pyrenees and over Massif Central into the Languedoc. Historically it’s known to last for days. 

A tree uprooted by the Tramontane

The Tramontane gusts often to about 30-40 mph (70 kpm) like a tropical storm but not too many trees are toppled and there isn’t a lot of building damage. But it’s the days of this wind’s roaring sound that can drive you crazy.

In the Herault the Tramontane is one of the three winds that scour the region. The other two are the Mistral and the Sirocco, known locally as the Marin. The Mistral comes out of the Northwest, rolls down the Rhone Valley against the Massif Central and mainly affects Provence and the Camargue. The Marin comes out of the Southwest--it begins in North Africa—and arrives warm and wet having picked up its moisture as it crosses the Mediterranean. 



Locals know that the Marin is followed by warmer, rainy days and the Tramontane by clear sparkling colder ones.

This year, the Tramontane is clearly on the on the side of the French anti-reform protesters. Last week the garbage collectors joined the strikers and in cities across France garbage has piled up. In most places though, the garbage had been neatly stacked around neighborhood collection points and maintaining the civic order. The French are very tidy about their garbage. They neatly sort and package their garbage, separating and setting aside recycling and separately wrapping compostable matter. 

Our garbage neatly sorted and packaged

But then like a spoilt child throwing a tantrum the Tramontane blew in from out of the North and began scattering the refuse all about. The windblown garbage is unsettling to everyone’s sense of order as well as to their noses.

But despite the scattered garbage piles, persistent gas shortages, post office and railway slow downs, most people still support the anti-reformists.

And there’s a strange kind twist to the story. 

Garbage that makes a pretty good photo

 In conversation with people and on TV folks are saying that Sarkozy was elected because he was tougher than the other candidates and they felt he would get needed reforms passed. They didn’t like him but his opponent Ségolène Royal, a woman AND a socialist couldn’t be expected to fix things—she was just too nice and caring.

Sarko is short and brusque and unpleasant. He snarls rather than speaks and doesn’t seem to like ordinary people very much. What I think happened is that the French expected Sarko would move reforms along but in a decidedly French way. That is there would be a lot of zuts alors! and merde! and posturing followed by lots of small compromises and face saving gestures along the way to reform. What they didn’t take into account is his intransience and unwillingness to even talk to the other side. Sarko is in his style, very much a European version of a TEA party-er.  

Organizing for the October 28th demonstrations

In the US, President Obama was elected to take over a government driven to the economic brink by the former administration. Tough steps were needed and everyone thought that this professorial guy would be just the one to do it. But Americans like Obama because he is nice. He has a great smile that shines across his face and can light up a room. People would say how tired they were of the squabbling in Washington and wanted a conciliatory “now kids I want you all to shake hands and clean up your room” kind of leader.

The French went with a thug to do the tough job and hoped that he would clean up the neighborhood without breaking too many windows.The Americans wanted a nice guy who wouldn't lose his temper and break the dishes. No one seems happy with what they got.

I think that the right, groups like the TEA party, would love a guy like Sarko. He’s nasty and blunt like a street fighter and always on the edge of anger. He has hissy fits in public and often seems uncomfortable and near the breaking point.

But unlike TEA party hopefuls he’s already IN power. 

That’s the scary part. He is in power but not in control and it pisses him off. For Sarko the unions and strikers don’t have a different idea of how things should be done. For him they are “scum” and “dangerous” and almost traitors.

For now the French government claims that everything is calming down. But tomorrow the 28^th is another day of national strikes. Although the government has adopted a “move along folks there’s nothing to see here” attitude, people do see the strikes every day. You can’t avoid the closed gas stations, the cancelled flights and the students sitting in front of schools.

And most of all you can’t avoid the garbage.
The garbage my friends that’s blowing in the wind. 

The garbage gauntlet

Photos and text ©2010 Steve Meltzer