This is why we did not go to church yesterday.

Météo France had put out a orange warning about high winds starting Saturday night and lasting through most of the day on Sunday.

With winds from 100-150 km/h (60-90 mph), this was the most violent windstorm France has had since December 26, 1999 (also a Sunday, and I chose not to go to church that day either).

At least 47 people lost their lives in the windstorm yesterday, due to quick-rising water on the Atlantic coast, a dam bursting in the Charente-Maritime region, and falling trees.

500,000 homes are still without electricity this morning. We were fortunate; our electricity blinked on and off for about 30 minutes before finally going out around noon, but it was back on again by about 2 pm. No trees fell on our house, either, thank goodness. Our neighbor does have a tree down in his yard, though.

Today is sunny, clear and calm, and our tulips have started to come up. We're hoping spring will be here soon.