Mondial du Vent

Action today at La Franqui

With over 300 days of sunshine here in this lovely corner of France , we certainly can't complain about the weather . However, when it rains it truly pours here in the PO and when it's windy we have the trusty tramontane...
The Tramontane is created by the difference of high pressure in the cold air over the Atlantic and the low pressure system over the Med. The high pressure air flows South and is funnelled between the Pyrenees and the Massif Central, arriving in the PO to skin us alive and to literally take our breath away.
It's name comes from the fact that it traverses the mountains and some people say that it comes from the Latin for Northern Star "transmontanus" as for the Italians, North was the Alps and the Northern 
star shining above it.
Anyway, this wind which visits us regularly, is the reason that the Mondial du vent is held here since 1997. This international meet of windsurfers and kite surfers is frequented by the best in the world and is hosted by laid back La Franqui just 40 mins North of us here in Perpignan.

Colourful wind chimes for sale

Alannah takes flight

We headed up there this afternoon to soak up the atmosphere and watch the kite surfers fly through the air. It's a really well organised event with parking a half a kilometer away and road trains taking you to the heart of the action - a whole street of wind and adrenaline based activities, many of them free for the children.
A great afternoons entertainment was had by all , the tram was blowing in force and we made it back to our car after a lovely feed of burgers and chips in a local laid back hippy hang out, just in time before the heavens opened and the rains came.
Highly recommend for a day out with the kids next year. See here for more details, in English.