La bise noire

Today was the first day this week that Friend R and I dared to take our morning walk.  We were beginning to get stir crazy from staying inside and listening to la bise (the cold North Wind) howl outside.   The noise from the shutters has made it difficult to sleep at night.  And opening a window is very risky business.  One can find oneself literally blown across the room.  A visit from la bise is especially memorable when temperatures are already below zero Celsius and especially when one is situated right next to Lake Geneva.

La bise noire has its origin in northeastern Europe.  It traverses the Swiss plateau until it finds the valley where the great Rhône has its source and follows the valley to Lake Geneva.  Then it merrily continues along the lake, causing waves that would make wind-surfers very happy were they not so cold and dangerous.  The waves cause mini-tsunamis in the Petit Lac near Geneva and lakeside communes, icing everything within reach, uprooting trees and causing major property damage.  It finally continues across and south to the Massif central in France and from there to points further south.  This year, both Provence and Corsica have also had lots of snow and ice.  Here are a couple of photos from the very cold winter of 2005 that show what la bise can do.

Looking at these pictures makes me very happy that I no longer live right next to the lake.  My building is also turned slightly just enough so that the full force of the wind doesn't hit me.  My first-floor terrace is actually quite sheltered in comparison to my lovely little apartment by the lake.  I remember how I had to chip the ice off my car to drive it away from the lake surf before it literally became a prisoner of the ice.  I don't miss that at all.

I do occasionally still miss this.  But it will always live in my memory.  And in my photos.