What a difference a day makes

Last night I woke to the sound of thunder, and torrential rain drumming on the roof. It was an épisode cévenole, when warm, wet air is driven in from the sea, hits the Cévennes, and dumps all its water content on the plain. It can cause devastating flooding, as it did on the unforgettable night of 12-13 November 1999, when 500mm of rain (80% of the average annual rainfall) fell in 24 hours, and 25 people drowned. In this case, all it did was clear away all the clouds, so the morning looked like this. I think the clouds all headed off to chaiselongue!

I tried the in-camera HDR for this photo. I took some raw shots for comparison, and I can't say the HDR made a huge difference. Even though the camera fired off two shots very rapidly, the slight breeze meant the branches on the left of the almond tree were blurred when the photos were merged. And I still had to lighten up the shadows a fraction. Bracketing and merging in Photoshop probably works better.

The soundtrack: I can't decide whether I prefer Sarah Vaughan or Dinah Washington's version of this wonderful song. At first listen you might think Dinah's is too syrupy, but the timbre of her voice saves it. Then again, the bluesiness of Sarah Vaughan's version, and her perfect control of her voice ... maybe she has the edge.

In other news, we gave our final concert in Carcassonne this afternoon. It was even better than the other two. I will miss this wonderful piece of music. I'm not a religious person in the least, but the emotion in Duruflé's music is captivating. Watching the audience while our soloist Angélique sang this, I could see they were utterly spellbound. As were we. It's a work that demands all your attention.