Sarkozy Au Top

Yellow lights, bright neons, headlights, at Saint–Placide.

Weather Stays Crazy

Paris:– Monday, 15. January:–  I am not surprised that it is Monday again even though a week has passed in a blink, leaving scant trace. Do you remember that horror when somebody said a time–unit could be a week of Sundays? How would you like to try a year of Mondays? Meanwhile, there is the curious weather, causing confusion, today on page 4, below.

Page 4, Above the Fold

It looks like winter even if it doesn't feel much like it. It has been gray and raining a bit occasionally, but the temperatures have been holding to the 10–15 slice of the thermometre – holding at least five degrees above normal.

While plants start to bud about 6 weeks early and some birds didn't bother going to Africa this year, the apparently endless flow of warm streams up from the southwest, hosing mild all over the place. Tomorrow the breezes will be plugging along at 60 kph up the Channel, while a great gray blob hangs over northwest France including here. Expect the high to be about 9 degrees.

Saint–Germain fêtes January.

On Wednesday all of northern France is supposed to be overlaid with solid gray clouds, through which a 50 kph wind is supposed to pass, heading to the northeast. In compensation tonight's TV–weather news promised at high of 12 degrees.

Which brings us to Thursday and even more clouds, covering more of this green and pleasant land. As you enjoy a temperature that might be 15 degrees everywhere around here, try not to notice the invisible wind hustling northeast under the clouds, right up your coattails, at 70 kph. On the Riviera there will likely be offshore winds too. But with sunshine and a forecast high of 17 degrees, it will be almost wonderful unless you crave deep powder snow.

While the winter weather acts strange here and it appears as if it might be getting normal in New York, way out west in Hollywood topsy seems to be getting the upper hand.

Pommeland Weather On March

The strange days of dazed weather continues in Pommeland. December set a record for being the warmest December ever recorded. Flowers and plants began blooming and sprouting, thinking it was March.

Even though January is named after Janus, the god with two faces, March also has a Janus aspect. Winter surged back with a surprising surge on Wednesday which resulted in at least 200 snow flakes falling. This in turn created a media frenzy which resulted in the injury or discombobulation of over 300 flaky reporters.

As of this weekend Pommeland will be bathed in foggy, froggy, rainy weather. Winter will move eastwards and is expected to arrive on Tuesday with high temperatures below freezing on Wednesday. The high on Friday may reach 40 a–grad but then turn windy and colder on Saturday.

A la prochaine , Météo Jim

Way Out In Hollywood

Alan Pavlik writes today:– It's not exactly icy in Hollywood – just chilly. The real cold is out in the San Fernando Valley and the high desert – in Lancaster, Palmdale. The beach cities have the moderating ocean – the heat sink – and I've got urban build around me. But from my study window I can see Baldy and Big Bear far in the distance – the snow in the mountains is quite impressive. Needless to say there's not a cloud anywhere – the sun is intense. It will hit 60 today.

Skaters at Montparnasse on Sunday.

In Woodland Hills the low was a flat 20 degrees, tying the old record set in 1963. On the Santa Monica Pier, the low was 39 degrees, tying the old record, also set in 1963. Long Beach hit 31 degrees, beating its old record of 33 degrees set in 1963. In the mountains in Sandberg, the temperature sagged to 19 degrees, beating the old record of 21 degrees set in 1962. The chilly weather is expected to remain the same for the rest of the week. Our winter is different.

Café Life

Sarkozy Au Top

Finally at long last, after years and years of endless campaigning, the right–wing UMP party selected Nicolas Sarkozy as its candidate in the election to be held this spring, for the position of President of France. The party faithful cast 98.1 percent of their votes for the candidate, and about 60,000 turned out on Sunday for his coronation at the Porte de Versailles in the big cow barn.

The result was hardly surprising. All of the other UMP candidates dropped out of the race and the secret here is guessing where the missing 7.9 percent of the votes went. Adversaries and ex–candidates trooped down to Paris Expo for a token kiss, a formal make up, and then quickly buzzed off so the party could continue with best–friends only.

All in all it was a great weekend for the short Minister of the Interior. On Friday Le Parisien treated its readers to a front page followed by nine pages – called 10 pages – of "La vraie nature de Nicolas." Today's edition has three more pages, with the headline, "Sarkozy – Royal, c'est parti."

The non–neon Paris night.

The centre–right's leader, François Bayrou is still a candidate in the running. The extreme left has a candidate or two as do the Communists, and the far–right has Jean–Marie Le Pen as a candidate again – if he can assemble the necessary 500 endorsemens from elected mayors in time.