Ray of light, even in a hailstorm

BEAUNE, Sunday June 29, 2014: I was sitting in the living room of the serviced apartment we had rented in Beaune yesterday, Saturday June 28 morning, looking anxiously at the grey sky, the forecast was showers. They were beginning to come down when suddenly amid the patter of rain, we heard the clatter of small stones on the patio.

I looked outside and saw little grey-white pellets bouncing off the cement floor. It was hail, the third year in succession that Burgundy was affected by hail - mostly in the Cote de Beaune, Pommard, Volnay and Meursault, which appeared to have be…