La Grande Inondation de Montpellier 2014

And where is Montpellier?

After the rain on Greyrocks' arrival day there was a let-up and we were able to cycle down to the sea on one day and go to the cinema on a slightly wet day; but it  was only a matter of time. All the talk was of what was to come on the Sunday or Monday. The warmer the weather over the week the worse the forecast for the coming storm. Thus the glorious Sunday when we went to Le Grau du Roi (more of that later!) was both an unexpected delight and a foreboding!
In the early hours of Monday morning the rain started and it did not stop for almost 24 hours. Greyrocks had a plan: cagoules, drive to the Carrefour car park, tram to Comedie, long lunch somewhere nice and a V.O. film to get us through the afternoon!
It started OK, torrential rain as we waited for the tram,, but when got off at the station to either change lines or take a short walk it was worse! We stood for 10-15 minutes in a bit of shelter at the tram stop and watched as water poured down the slope of the tram line and cars elsewhere were going very tentatively though increasingly high puddles. All we could do was run across to the Brasserie de la Gare, which had closed off a few tables and just run out of its plat du jour! It bore some resemblance to a transit camp, and as we slowly ordered and consumed a reasonable late lunch the clientele was being moved into a smaller and smaller space as the outer room went underwater and a couple of waiters attempted a Canute or Hans Brinker with brooms! A waiter said it was only the second time on fifty (or was it fifteen) years that this had happened. Eventually there was some easing up and Greyrocks got to the cinema. They watched  Mick Jagger's' "Get on up" in version original in the presence of one other punter. It held the interest whilst we now know all Hell was being let loose outside!
Believing that the hypermarket where we had parked would close at 8pm and in need of supplies we scuttled down to the station. The tram track was now like a river and the digital display gave ominous warnings about the inondation on our bit of the line, but after about 20 wet minutes a tram arrived. It went a few stops and we could see that  road traffic was at a complete standstill. Soon so were we and we were all thrown off at a major station with no trams going anywhere at all. So we had to walk!

Part of our campsite! One tent is out of shot!

This started off OK on a broad modern boulevard between carriageways and with good lighting, but we new from numerous rides that the cycle path and walkway would soon deteriorate after going under the A9! The map shows one is close to the river Lez and it was this breaking its banks that had led to the city being put on Red Alert at 4pm. In increasing gloom and decreasing path width we trudged along in our shorts/cropped trousers and sandals and decide to go the other side of the road for greater ease at road junctions. We came to a fence and had to go back across the completely jammed road traffic to the other side. The path went down to nothing and we were wading. Coming the other way was a group of women in work clothes and shoes. We had a discussion about viabilite and one of them promptly fell into a hole and went over completely. When we got back to the car all businesses on the site were firmly closed but a thousand cars were still in the car park - including Yvette. With great difficulty and several times in the wrong direction we got out of the flooded car park and by back roads to the campsite entrance, which was blocked by a towed caravan and a couple of cars. This was eventually resolved and we hunkered down in our comfy mobil-home with a scratch supper. The events were now national news! Montpellier was the centre of it all and had come to a complete halt. Here are some relevant links:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjZ_g1JlZuM
http://tempsreel.nouvelobs.com/galeries-photos/photo/20140929.OBS0599/photos-inondations-spectaculaires-a-montpellier.html
http://www.weather.com/news/montpellier-france-flash-flood-vigilance-rouge-20140929

Things were more or less back to normal by Tuesday morning and the rest of the stay was an Indian summer. See next post for how Greyrocks spent it!