Phew what a scorcher!

One of the main reasons the campsite at Ligny had been chosen was because of the proximity of the river for paddling. What a great relief it was to have the cool water available during another record-breaking heatwave in France.

It is such a contrast to the mountain waters of Corsica which were warmer, probably due to the huge rocks that absorb so much heat and then release it into the water. It seemed ironic that fast-flowing water there was significantly warmer than the slow, shallow waters of the Serein here.

It was just as well that the water was cool, look who came to stay.

The heat was correctly forecasted and Thursday's maximum was over 42 degrees measured with two different thermometers and the Landy interior temperature reached 48C, No wonder that the solar panel was working overtime to maintain the battery charge for the fridge.

Two little grandsons therefore had to acclimatise very quickly and it was hard to increase their fluids intake even though they clearly felt the heat. 

The river came to the rescue several times and building little dams is really good fun. The river is teeming with fish. There are hundreds and hundreds, ranging from tiny ones less than a centimetre long to some that looked like small trout. The feel of swimming through weeds takes some getting used to but it was worth it for the sheer joy of totally cooling off.

As the daytime temperature increased, the evening temperature held-up and so by mid-week it was still 28C well after dark. This is unusual on a countryside campsite, probably less so in a city. By Thursday, the day when records would be broken in the UK and various other European countries, not only was it  >40C but there was a significant breeze. At these temperatures each time it blew it was as if an oven door was opened. Phew!

There was a little time for sightseeing during this week although doing anything energetic was difficult. In Auxerre we looked in the huge cathedral and it was fantastic to hear the organ being played, although it wasn't conventional organ music but then it isn't a conventional organ.

I used Shazam in an attempt to identify what was playing. Normally in situations such as this it wouldn't work but rather surprisingly, I got a "match" back and it was this (clicky)...

I'm still not sure if it is what the organist was playing but I doubt it was The Physics House Band. They are an English group sitting in a highly specialised musical corner "creating avant-garde compositions that capture everything from jazz to prog to psych to doom metal". It's not too bad.