Friday night was unusually cold and quiet. Yesterday, Avignon woke up under a thick, frozen blanket of snow. A rare event in the city of the Popes, noted for its dry climate. Kids were playing - some of them even skiing- on the sloped Place du palais des Papes. The snow was so heavy that it broke some tree branches. The inner-city streets are still covered with it after 24 hours ; no municipal service can effectively enter this maze of frozen lanes. But shops are still open : those are the first days of " les soldes de janvier", boxing day sales, and customers are not deterred by the snow. Certainly not my wife...