Mistral

Thanks to our round-the-world sailing and tennis friends Bob & Sara McGowan I learned of this windy phenomenon.

Mistral

Eric has delayed our departure until Tuesday. "The boat is not ready", he says, "and we cannot sail in this wind.  So we find ourselves with three days;  we decide to rent a car and take our chances.  Amelie, colorful the Europe Car manager in Arles offers, "Mistral blows for one day, three days, six days, or nine.  This time they say it is three."   An hour before we were nearly blown off the taxi stand waiting for a ride to her office. "We have only one car; it has manual transmission," says Amelie smiling,  "it's that one there, red like The Bull".  We took it.  Leaving Arles on the A-8 we see a red neon warning sign, "Vent violent.  Adapt votre vitesse"; we drove off to visit Salon de Provence.

The two star Select Hotel near the center of Salon proved one could be lucky, with a little research.  Parking is seldom easy in the center of these ancient towns, but here we park on the street across from the front door.  The resourceful Proprietors, Donald and Laetitia suggested a walk to the "fountain", an aperitif at Cafe des Arts, then to La Salle a Manger for a remarkable gastronomique dinner.  The Dorade Royale served whole was preceded by Thon Cerviche flavored with lime, ginger and soy sauce plus une petite je ne sais qua.  Anna enjoyed her pizza soufflé and the bouillabaisse in Thai spices, and the  remaining half bottle of a local Cote du Rhone sits on the table of our modest room as I begin this post 6am Saturday morning.

Mistral (Wikipedia)

The mistral (Catalan: Mestral, Greek: Μαΐστρος) is a strong, cold and northwesterly wind that blows from southern France into the Gulf of Lion in the northern Mediterranean, with sustained winds often exceeding forty kilometers an hour, and sometimes reaching one hundred kilometers an hour.^[1] It is most common in the winter and spring, and strongest in the transition between the two seasons. Periods of the wind exceeding for thirty kilometers an hour for more than sixty-five hours have been reported.^[2]

In France, it refers to a violent and cold north or northwest wind which accelerates when it passes through the valleys of the Rhone and the DuranceRivers to the coast of the Mediterranean around the Camargue region.^[3] It affects the northeast of the plain of Languedoc and Provence to the east ofToulon, where it is felt as a strong west wind. It has a major influence all along the Mediterranean coast of France, and often causes sudden storms in the Mediterranean between Corsica and the Balearic Islands.^[4]

In the south of France, the name comes from the Languedoc dialect of theOccitan and means "masterly". The same wind is called mistrau in the Provençal variant of the Occitan language, mestral in Catalan, maestrale in Italian andCorsican, maistràle or bentu maestru in Sardinian and majjistral in Maltese.

The mistral is usually accompanied by clear, fresh weather, and it plays an important role in creating the climate of Provence. It can reach speeds of more than ninety kilometers an hour, particularly in the Rhone Valley. Its average speed during the day can reach about fifty kilometers an hour, calming noticeably at night. The mistral usually blows in winter or spring, though it occurs in all seasons. It sometimes lasts only one or two days, frequently lasts several days, and sometimes lasts more than a week.^{[5]Salon de Provence}