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Snow in Paris and Provence - France Turns into a Winter Wonderland
This past week sent chills and freezing temperatures throughout Europe, and Paris experienced something it rarely does. Snow flurries aren’t unheard of but they tend to be ephemeral and never stick to the ground for more than a few hours.
But this time was different. People were compelled to bundle up since Paris’s temperature plummeted to below -9 degrees Celsius (15 degrees Fahrenheit). That’s a record low for the City of Light.
Passengers were stranded at Paris’s Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport . Last Monday, heavy snow forced Air France to cancel 150 out of 400 scheduled flights from Roissy. Three thousand passengers had to stay at nearby hotels, while another 2000 people camped out in the airport’s terminals.
Ironically, flights in and out of Paris’s second airport, Orly were operating on schedule.
Snow brought traffic to a halt. People were stranded and even the Eiffel Tower was closed for a couple of days. A few metro lines weren’t functioning. Paris doesn’t have snow removal trucks because white powder that sticks is so rare that it’s essentially an enigma.
People had to walk since the buses were coming sporadically – when they came at all. Some Parisian children who’d never seen snow were able to fulfill a fantasy. While school was cancelled, they built snowmen and even threw snowballs – ever so much fun for the uninitiated.
But in spite of the deep freeze, tourists lined up to see the sights. Undoubtedly it’s because they came to Paris from colder climates and weren’t intimidated by a bit of frost.
There were queues to get into the Louvre even though the Carousel was closed. The snow didn’t faze visitors unless they were flying to another destination. People who came to Paris to do business weren’t happy when they discovered their meetings had been cancelled.
Most tourists forged ahead and refused to put their plans on the back burner since they were in Paris for a finite period.
The Burke family, visiting from Australia, made the pilgrimage to Disneyland Paris and reported that some of the rides were closed and a few walkways were slushy. And if bad weather wasn’t keeping them from Disneyland, it sure wasn’t going to keep them from going to Versailles. “We’re leaving in a few days and didn’t come all of this way to leave without seeing what we came to see.” John mused.
Anne and Kirk Woodyard who own Music and Markets Tours were in Aix en Provence, and couldn’t believe there were six inches of snow and the town was paralyzed for all but walkers. Kirk recalled helping a man push his stuck car out of a snow bank, “We had just arrived from Virginia where we hadn’t seen snow. Then suddenly we were in the land of no plows, no snow shovels and no salt.”
Some American Expats welcomed the snow and decided to walk rather than take the metro. One former Chicago resident was hoping he’d be able to use his cross-country skis to navigate the city. Dennis was overly optimistic.
Utility companies in France and throughout Europe have been operating at full tilt this last week, and there were many power failures in the EU. The count still isn’t in as to how many people died because of the cold and the resulting lack of heat.
Climate change appears to be taking its toll on the highs and lows of temperatures throughout the world. As we’ve always said at Bonjour Paris, “People don’t come to Paris for the weather.” However, this is a bit extreme, merci beaucoup.
If you were in Paris during the snow, please post your experiences.
© Paris New Media, LLC
Karen@BonjourParis.com
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