I have written earlier about the rainstorms with thunder and lightning here in Provence. Last night was a doozy. The thunder rolled onto the house, through the house causing the doorknobs to rattle and the walls to shake, and then continued on. I was completely unable to sleep for quite a while and read A Year in Provence as the rain pummeled the house and the bright flashes gave the briefest warnings of the jarring thunder. The linked newspaper report said it rained 180 mm, which is 7 inches, the usual amount of rain over a 2-month period. (http://www.rivieratimes.com/index.php/provence-cote-dazur-article/items/torrential-rain-floods-the-var.html )I woke up to half the farmhouse flooded, spent over an hour squeegeeing (great word to spell!) water in the morning and feeling rather futile as I could see water entering the rooms through cracks in the floor mortar. I cooked lunch with rubber boots on in the puddles of the kitchen. This evening the kitchen is pretty much dry, but the hallway and laundry/service room is still flooded with running water. It has rained all day and the water will continue to come in until it stops, which is supposed to be tomorrow afternoon. We are holed up in the study/den, which has the cast iron fireplace; we were warm and cozy with a fire all day. The boys love this room because it has the best Wi-Fi reception. The bedrooms are upstairs, so they were spared.