By the way, what is a "mistral," you ask? (Or at least I did.) I looked it up on Wikipedia, and found this explanation which made me smile:
The mistral is a strong, cold and usually dry regional wind in France. The mistral is usually accompanied by clear and fresh weather, and it plays an important role in creating the climate of Provence.
The mistral helps explain the unusually sunny climate (2700 to 2900 hours of sunshine a year) and clarity of the air of Provence. When other parts of France have clouds and storms, Provence is rarely affected for long, since the mistral quickly clears the sky. In less than two hours, the sky can change from completely covered to completely clear. The mistral also blows away the dust, and makes the air particularly clear, so that during the mistral it is possible to see mountains 150 kilometers and farther away.
This clarity of the air and light is one of the features that attracted many French impressionist and post-impressionist artists to the South of France.
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