Dog day dispatches

Mont Blanc, from Col de la Faucille, 12 June 2026 I’m just back from cycling around in a French canicule… A fascinating word that, as I’m sure you’re well aware, derives from the heliacal rising of the Dog Star ( canicula in Latin). According to Hellenistic astrology, this means heat, drought and fever. The dog days of summer… Fifty years ago, to the day, we had the start of ‘The Heatwave of the…