We have this word in French for the sudden change of weather, random hail and snow storms that usually occur in March every year: ‘giboulées’. It’s like Mother Nature were shaking off her winter coat before bringing back the warm season. It’s a fabulous time of the year for crazy and unexpected lights, feeling alternatively warm and frozen to death, experiencing snow, rain, sun and rainbows all in one day.
This weekend we had the full experience with ‘giboulées’ as we went for a road trip across the Vercors mountain range. We started off with 11°C and were found with temperatures below zero the next day, snow in the morning, rain in the afternoon, sun and rainbows as we drove back. Every plant and wildlife seemed to be confused. Birds were chirping in the blizzard whilst they thought they were celebrating Spring one minute earlier, flower buds ready to bloom and yet covered in ice and snow.
From the little town of Autrans, we drove all the way down the high plateau and through the ‘Gorges de la Bourne’, finding gems along the way with the cute village of Pont-en-Royans, a former cistercian abbey and even a Greek Orthodox Monastery.
