We are going to do a four-day bicycle tour next (long) weekend in Southern Isère, and were planning to do the last “practice” ride this Sunday. Since recent days have been and still are very warm with strong gusty wind, even if the official heat alert ended a few days ago, we skipped the Sunday ride, and went for an early morning walk to check the newly blooming sunflower fields.

After this short relief from the extreme heat another heatwave will arrive later this coming week, but the weather forecast also promises some thunder and rain, but that can still change (as it often does). It has not rained in weeks, and it has not only been very warm, but the sky has been completely cloudless all this time, so there has been no shade from the sun.

The tree in the last photo is a giant sequoia, presumably planted around 1900.