Alsace Wine Tour 2023 – Port de Melay

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Port de Melay on the lateral canal of the Loire

It is very hot again, high twenties touching on thirty centigrade. We have a quiet morning at Port de Melay, Gill writing and Alan painting a water colour of the barn at the end of the field. After lunch we decide to walk to the village of Melay, Alan wants a baguette and it would be nice to explore the village.

We walk along the canal and down the lane where there is little shade, it is unbearably hot! The village is deserted, not even a dog or a fly is moving! The church in Melay is large and elevated at the top of the hill up about 30 steps, is open. Even in the church the air is hot, humid and the temperature well over 30°C! Even worse… there is no boulangerie or shop in the village, nothing, no shade and nowhere open.

We walk back in the baking heat as thunder starts to reverberate around us. Back at the aire de camping cars at Port de Melay by the canal, everyone is wilting, including us as we all wait for the impending storm. It comes suddenly, with a tremendously loud crack of thunder that sounds like it is overhead. Lightning follows and the torrential rain. We all leave our doors and windows open, we are so hot, we don’t really care about getting so wet! We open a bottle of Fitou red wine and watch the storm, it last about half an hour, long enough to cool the outside of the vehicles. The air is cleared, sky not quite blue but the temperature has dropped by about 10°C and the cool air follow.

We enjoy chicken stir fry and cantaloup melon for tea. Later, in the evening we walk to the canal and walk west (the opposite way to yesterday) and find the huge storks nest at the farm with her three chicks. We also spot a coypu swimming covertly by the opposite edge of the canal, almost hidden by the undergrowth, but his golden head and movement of the water gives him away. The ground is wet and our feet and gritty with it but it feels cool underfoot and quite cold on our bare arms. Back at the aire we wash our feet and shoes and climb into bed for an early night.

Expecting to sleep immediately I am surprised to lie awake and be serenaded by hundreds of frogs. They sing in unison until about midnight, basking no doubt in the damp, cool grass after the rain. I must have finally dropped off but I don’t remember!

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