What’s the Weather Like?
The weather here – from Spring through to Autumn – is very favourable. The sun shines, skies are blue and it’s warm; sometimes it’s hot but not usually so hot as to be unpleasant, usually a few degrees cooler than the Mediterranean coastal area to the east. Conditions tend to be settled and when it rains (keeping all those trees, crops and greenery growing) it tends to be of a short duration only. In general, the weather here is kinder on our canal than it is on the Canal du Midi to the east. We do not expect the severe heat and we are also not exposed to the Mistral and Tramontane winds whose howling reputations for disturbing the psyche are not undeserved !
| Average high °C | Average low °C | Precipitation mm | ||||
| °C | (°F) | °C | (°F) | mm | (inches) | |
| Jan | 9.4 | 49 | 2.2 | 36 | 52 | 2.05 |
| Feb | 11.2 | 52 | 3.2 | 38 | 51 | 2.01 |
| Mar | 14 | 57 | 4.5 | 40 | 54 | 2.13 |
| Apr | 16.2 | 61 | 6.5 | 44 | 67 | 2.64 |
| May | 20.5 | 69 | 10.3 | 51 | 77 | 3.03 |
| Jun | 24.2 | 76 | 13.3 | 56 | 64 | 2.52 |
| Jul | 27.6 | 82 | 15.7 | 60 | 45 | 1.77 |
| Aug | 27.5 | 82 | 15.9 | 61 | 51 | 2.01 |
| Sep | 24.2 | 76 | 12.9 | 55 | 52 | 2.05 |
| Oct | 18.9 | 66 | 9.6 | 49 | 52 | 2.05 |
| Nov | 13 | 55 | 5.2 | 41 | 51 | 2.01 |
| Dec | 10.1 | 50 | 3.3 | 38 | 52 | 2.05 |
The Saint Louis is well equipped to enable our guests to enjoy to the full the climate of the South West. The carpeted sun deck is huge, and well equipped with teak chairs, sun-loungers and sun-umbrellas. Below decks the boat is fully air conditioned and all the guest areas have full central heating for those refreshing early mornings and late evenings in spring and autumn. For those occasional rain-showers, we do carry guest umbrellas. More often than not guests choose to eat lunch ‘al fresco’ on the sun deck, and very often (even in spring and autumn) the weather is kind enough to be able to enjoy both breakfast and dinner on deck as well.
In the summer months guests often wear shorts and a tee-shirt, perhaps with a lightweight pullover in mornings and evenings. In spring or autumn chinos, jeans or slacks are often worn – and a light wind-cheater can be useful. For footwear, sandals (or bare feet) are usual, but comfortable walking shoes are appropriate for some excursions, and for walking along the tow-path.
