FRENCH VILLAGE LIFE

The Year Our Little FrenchVillage Flooded

The floods in Spain are a reminder of a memorable flood in my village and a warning against complacency

The main square of the village was like a lake (all photos by author)

Watching news of the floods in Valencia Spain — about a six-hour drive from my village — my partner and I discussed what we’d do in similar circumstances. Fortunately, the garret is on the third floor (considered the second in France), so we’d probably be safe — other than my partner’s wine collection in the ground floor storage area, which we’d relocate if a serious storm threatened.

But this village has had numerous floods over the centuries. A wall near the castle, which now serves as the town hall, has marks showing the dates and water levels of past floods.

Water flooded the garden and eventually covered the steps and flooded the road

Ten years ago this month — I’d moved to the village a couple of months earlier — I woke up to the sound of heavy rain beating down on the skylights. Just across the road, the normally dry stream bed had already overflowed into the garden. Coming from California, I’d never seen anything quite like it. The village, located at the bottom of a couple of hills, was flooded…