How to Prepare for extratropical cyclone?
Plougoulm, Brittany, France
It's a rainy and windy day in Plougoulm, Finistère department, Western France, in the Brittany region. Right on the Atlantic coast. To be honest, it's a full-blown storm, powerful and long-lived extratropical cyclone and its name is Ciara.
What we absolutely should have packed for this trip are rubber boots and raincoats, and of course, it's obvious now, but it wasn't when we could have done something about it.
We last visited our storage unit at the end of September. Back then, in Rouen, the temperature was above 30 degrees Celsius. From Rouen, we headed to the Alps, where the temperature ranged from scorching heat to a few degrees below freezing. Deciding in advance what's absolutely essential in such varying conditions was a bit tricky.
It's great to have everything you need, but nothing unnecessary. There's limited space in the car, and we're not interested in hauling around extra stuff - even the essentials take up quite a bit of space. I've already determined the optimal number of t-shirts - it's 3, which is a bit on the low side in the summer and slightly too many in the winter, but I intend to stick with it. So, the next time we go to the storage unit in January, I'll return 4 of them. Figuring out what to bring with several other clothing items is a bit more challenging because we have to consider not only the seasons but also the different weather conditions in various parts of France.
I'm currently making a list of what is essential throughout the year, and I believe we'll soon become skilled at bringing only the essentials while still having everything we need. We avoid buying anything that's already in storage because we don't want to accumulate more stuff; quite the opposite.
It's very liberating when dressing is determined by real needs. My attitude towards clothing has completely changed now that I don't have a closet organized by colors where a piece of clothing can wait until the right occasion arises. Practically all clothing needs to be versatile, and since I do a lot of outdoor photography, that's the primary factor influencing my clothing choices. I've come to appreciate individual clothing items in a completely different way than before. And what we have in storage, which is essentially a typical person's wardrobe, will probably last longer in this journey than we can keep doing it.
So we have just experienced our first storm on this journey. The wind reached nearly 80 km/h during the night, with gusts up to 120 km/h, and waves of up to seven meters were measured. Sleeping between 2 and 3 a.m. was impossible due to the loud noise, and in the morning, we found out that the electricity was also out. Now, at 2 p.m., the power has returned, and we can do things again. However, the wind is still very strong, and it's raining, with occasional hail. It is still forbidden to move by car and it is recommended to stay inside.
Nature and weather phenomena are particularly fascinating here on the coast. Our house is located about 150 meters from the sea at high tide and approximately one kilometer away at low tide. Tide variations are significant in Brittany, as the beaches here are shallow. The sea flows in and out twice a day, creating its own unique challenges. It's an astonishing phenomenon for someone who has lived on the Baltic Sea.
This power outage due to the storm happened on the same day I was supposed to go shopping for some longer-term food supplies. Consequently, our refrigerator was nearly empty, which is good in the sense that no food went bad, but it's bad because we had very little to eat, and in the morning, we had no idea how long the outage would last.
Since the house quickly cooled down, and there was no internet, the only option was to put on an extra sweater, a hat, and mittens, find a second blanket, and take a nap. It paid off because when we woke up a few hours later, the power was back on. The coffee tasted unusually good. If the outage had lasted for several days - who knows? - hunger would have joined the cold.
Even though it overall rains a lot here, it's not continuous. There's a significant weather variation, so we also have had sunny days. We've already experienced a few incredible sunrises (see the gallery below). I've been taking a lot of photos, but even though there seems to be plenty to photograph here, there aren't many interesting or very striking photos yet. I'm also struggling with the fact that at best, my photos are good landscape or nature photos - nothing more. It would be great to achieve more significant expression. Maybe the fact that I've woken up to this will lead to something in the future, even though it feels a bit frustrating now.
Plougoulm is a small place; in 2015, the population was 1,772. It feels like being at a cottage because our house has a very cottage-like atmosphere, with lofts and wood paneling on the interior walls. This is a beautiful residential area with typical Breton architecture. The houses here look like they can withstand any storm coming from the Atlantic. You can walk along the beach indefinitely if you wish, or go surfing, an activity that seems to attract many people to these beaches at this time of year. The closest store and bakery are about 4 kilometers away, so for larger purchases, a car is necessary. The recent inspection resulted in a pleasant discovery that the car didn't sustain any storm damage, so if the wind calms down a bit soon, we can go see if we can find some food. In hope that these flickering lights don't signify a new power outage.
