Behind the peaceful snowy scenes

French news have been talking about the snow as it has created big inconveniences in every-day's life. When I was living in Malaysia with the tropical climate, I always looked at those peaceful snowy sceneries with admiration. Now, living through several snowy winters, I have to say that these breathtaking scenes do come with a price.

So last Friday morning we woke up to a white snowing day. My immediate thought was that we were going to be late to the school and to work.

In Malaysia, everyone would use a sun shade between the windshield and steering to escape the heat, I use this on my windshield to prevent having to spend too much time scratching the ice in the morning. It worked in a freezing day, but it didn't work as well on a snowing day.

While cleaning up my car, Aelig requested to walk to school. Good idea in theory, bad idea in practice. Anyway, it only snows in Nantes like once a year, so I agreed to walk her to the school. She was very excited on the way, I almost felt down several times, but she was running and walking fast without problem.

On the way home I managed to stand still without falling, but I saw two cars stuck on the road I was going to go through. I decided that I would not drive that day, as my car was not equipped with any accessories related to snow, and I was too scared to drive. So, I sent an email to my boss saying that I would work from home. Ended up I was very productive, I was so into my work that I continued until 9pm.

This morning while chatting with coworkers, I discovered that a lot of people were working from home, and some came in late due to the difficult driving conditions. So, I was not alone!

Man, so glad that this only happens once a year. I heard that in Paris buses were not running so people had to walk / ski to their office. And, the TV showed a grandma bicycling on the snow, that was quite scary.