A Terrible Storm (end 1999).

Two days after Christmas 1999, another terrible storm devastated the south of France.

It was in the hotel of my godfather and my godmother at Soulac-sur-Mer, at one hour’s drive from Bordeaux. The panes rattled, a noise of bagpipes whistled in our ears, we cleared away the tables immediately because we feared that the panes broke. While we were eating close to the chimney, a pane which was at the opposite of where we were eating burst into small pieces of glass. The Atlantic Ocean was just at 100 meters away from the hotel. The tide was high and the wind blew up to 200 km/h.  It carried on its way the sand of the sea into the hotel. We moved to the corridor just next door to protect ourselves.

From 7.30 pm to 11.30 pm, my cousin, my mother, my friends and myself  remained in this corridor our teeth chattering; while my brother, my godfather and the husband of one of our friends filled the hole of the chimney with wood boards, in order to avoid any air drainage. 11.30 pm. It was time to go to bed but even if we went upstairs to reach our rooms, we were very afraid. The shutters were squeaking and the panes banging… We spent a very bad night. The next morning, we went round to see what the damage had been. One of the most beautiful rooms of the hotel had been destroyed; broken down; it was impossible to do something of what was left. The following days, with our friends, we cleaned the balconies which were full of sand.

IT WAS HELL AND I WISH NEVER TO ASSIST ANY SUCH TERRIBLE STORM.