South of France
Question for members who have visited the South of France, when would you expect the warm Spring like weather to appear?
I was thinking of maybe going through around the middle of March.
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you say 'going through'....does this mean on ypur way elsewhere, Spain/Italy?
or are you thinking of (say) Nice or Perpignan etc as a destination?
it will be staring to warm up then, but only starting....May is more like it for comsistently warm weather, with June-August being hot...
however, if you can eke out another few hundred miles the Valencia region will be lovely by mid-March...
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It depends - just like the weather everywhere!!! We have a house in the south of France (the Aude, down near the Mediterranean border with Spain) and in March 2016 we were tiling and grouting our roof terrace. The instructions on the grout were not to apply it in temperatures over thirty degrees, and on two mornings we had to stop work by 10.30 am because it was already over that temperature on the floor of the terrace (obviously air temperatures were cooler).
It wasn't quite as warm in March this year, but was still 'spring-like'. However, in early April, on the day we were leaving to come home, we had a frost with temperatures of minus three degrees which unfortunately killed our pomegranate seedlings.
We will be there in March - and perhaps even in the Camargue because it will be warm enough for us...................... hopefully, but we could stilll bird-watch on cooler days, and the variety of birds may well be greater if the temperatures are normal for the area. March is a fantastic time to watch seabirds and migrating birds - with huge numbers around the lagoons at Leucate, and that area. The camargue will be buzzing with birds.
This historical weather data may help you to identify temperatures in any chosen area of France - choose a city or large town and look through the months and years to see an overall picture, rather than relying on 'We were there in March.............. and it was......................'.
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Greylag, I would seriously recommend that you head for N.E.Spain and particularly the reserve at Aiguamolls near St..Pere Pescador or Rosas.
I know you are a keen birdwatcher and can guarantee that you won't be disappointed if you aim to be there for migration. We always arrive around the third week in March, staying for 4 weeks then head for the Camargue when the weather is normally better than the rest of France but sometimes subject to the Mistral.
You'll enjoy the variety of birds in Spain and can then go onto the French specialities. Then maybe head for Les Dombes lakes near Lyon or La Brenne.
Ask for more details if you want them. If you send an email via the Community Manager asking her to forward it to me I'll give you more detailed info.
Valda and others including myself can give you details about campsites etc.
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I agree with Wherenext about Aguamolls - only about thirty miles over the Spanish border, and the best birdlife we've ever seen. We intended to spend half a day there, and only left when the reserve closed. We've been lots of times since, and it's now a favourite place to spot birds.
Within the one reserve we saw more bird species in close up than we've ever seen, including being able to take a close up photograph and video of a nightingale in full song! An absolutely fabulous place, and within range of some very good campsites with excellent facilities.
We stay at L'Amfora at St Pere Pescador, where the newest shower block is heated, and like a five star hotel - state of the art marble, brushed steel, mirror and tile............ with a resident cleaner! There are pitches with your own sanitary facilities, a good restaurant, excellent supermarket with a good range of fresh bread, and reasonably priced foods, grassy absolutely level pitches............. just what you need in March for a great stay. The site takes Camping Cheques in low season too, making it a real bargain.
There are lots of other good areas for bird watching, too, especially during migration, including the headland above Rosas. You're also just about within trip distance of the Ebro delta, which is another fantastic area, not too far into Spain.
Sometimes being just t'other side of the Pyrenees can warm up the temperature by enough degrees to make it more comfortable.
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There is a proverb that the Sahara starts at the Pyrenees, so that will give you an indication of weather.
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why not go now....get that season started....
Nice a steady sunny 14-17 for the coming week.
Perpignan similar but very windy, so will feel much colder.
Valencia rock solid sunshine 17-20
Malaga similar sun 18-21
these will be shade temperatures so in the sunshine will feel several deg warmer...
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PS...somerset 10 deg DULL, DULL, DULL....
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I can't comment on the bird watching part of your question but can on weather. We used to live near St Chinian in Languedoc and in March the weather could be very changeable but overall was not too warm. However, we would expect to be using our pool in early May so you can gather that in April the sun was quite strong and was able to heat up the pool. I once got sunburned on 6 January at a neighbours BBQ but that was exceptional. Spain would be my suggestion and many others have commented as such. So to answer your question I would expect warm spring like weather to start in April.
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We have been to Aiguamolls twice since 2011 and the water levels were fine in late March/early April. Will probably be going again in 2019.
Edit - the reserve has at least 4 areas which contains lakes so David may have been unlucky in finding one dried up. An interesting area, funnily enough, on the edge of the reserve is near the Sewage works. There are a couple of pools here and we have seen Purple Gallinule and Spotted Crake. You can also access the roof of the works for further viewing, clothes pegs advisable.
On the main pools you should see rarities such Audouins Gulls and Collared Pratincoles and we have seen Black Stork on a flooded meadow area. Go, you'll enjoy it, particularly if you go backa few times.
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In Folkestone ,(Black Horse Farm) it was 2.5 Monday morning !!!!0 -
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This is all sounding tempting for our trip to that corner of France in May! We reckon to get by in French but have no Spanish - nada. In that top corner of Spain, is English workable, without being that offensive Brit who just shouts loudly and expects people to understand?
- or even French, as works in parts of N Italy?Thanks.
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heres a couple of well used phrases to get you started...
Dos cervesas, por favor
Uno viño blanco y uno viño tinto, por favor
(did i learn those from TG?)....
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