I'm John Batchelor. I welcome Jim McTagg, a former Washington editor of Barron's Magazine, now a novelist

in Lancaster County. And we're looking to the east, well to the east, to our colleague, Simon

Constable, who writes for the Wall Street Journal and Barons and other distinguished publications.

He is in the south of France in a farming village known as Albi, a medieval farming village

surrounded by the excitement of the Easter weekend. However, we begin with the climate because

that is the reason Simon's there. The south of France is paradise. Simon, I connect to you

from New England where the spring is definitely here. The daffodils are now

yellowing everywhere. My daffodils are lighting up like battalions arriving on the battlefield.

However, your weather has been well ahead of here in New England for some time, and you've

enjoyed walks in the countryside, and the flowers

are well in bloom. How is your weather these days, Simon? Good day, too. Good day, dear, John.

Well, the last few days have been quite chilly, if you know that expression in English, in England,

particularly. But today, it is actually glorious. We've got a low,

a 41 Fahrenheit, and went up to a top of 55, which is very nice. It's very sunny. It's not

raining. It's not windy. It's just perfect. And Mr. McTag, you're in the mid-Atlantic states,

well south of me, and therefore you have your own climate compared to New England, where I am influenced by the highs coming down from Canada.

How is your weather these days, Jim? You're in a farming community as well.

From day to day, you don't know how to dress. I have a sweater on today. It's rainy. It rained all night. It's in the

low 50s. Yesterday, it was 80 degrees, and I had my summer wear on. So spring tortures us. I see people out

planning yesterday. I guarantee you we'll have a frost sometime in

April that'll kill everything they're doing. Now, that's just the nature of Lancaster County.

It's a trickster weather pattern during the spring.

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