April in Paris

The above aren’t pictures of April in Paris. I took them on April 1st and 2nd in Charlottesville where spring is a many-splendored thing. I know. I’ve seen the very beginnings of it many times – and pictures of later weeks. My friends are always telling me that I’m leaving “just as things are getting pretty”. And yet the same friends, influenced by a song written before they were born, sigh and say “Ah! April in Paris!”
Actually, April is usually the rainiest month there is. The temperature hovers around 11°C (52°F) – and that’s the daily high. (In 1932 when “April in Paris” was written, the temperatures were 2°C below normal and it was rainier than average. So much for the magic of the cinema.) The French proverb “En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil” which, loosely translated is “In April, take off not one thread of clothing.” says it all.
Made wise by my 37 Aprils in Paris, as I left sunny Charlottesville (temperature the day of my departure 84°F or 29° C), I was planning an ironic blog post for you. First, I’d show lovely pictures of early April in central Virginia. Then I’d contrast them with cold and rainy Paris pictures. But the joke was on me. We’ve had a lovely month. It has hardly rained at all. We rejoiced in day after day of bright sunshine and above average temperatures – though it was still wise to wear a coat, particularly in the evening.
While we enjoyed our unusual weather, the real irony was that when the cloud of ashes from the nameless-because-it-was-too-complicated-to-pronounce-unless-you-are-Icelandic volcano reached us and hovered over our heads above the bright blue sky, it stayed around for days because…….. there was no wind to blow it away.
So some tourists had more April in Paris than they were expecting. But it’s been lovely.
See for yourselves