Wednesday, February 08, 2012

Froid, moi ? Jamais !

Thank goodness for long johns. Shortly after we moved here from California I discovered that my legs got very, very cold during winter walks with the dog in the vineyard. On one cold November day I couldn't face the cold, so I put a pair of cotton lounge pants for sleeping (like pajama bottoms) on under my jeans. What an improvement. I realized then, because I had spent close to twenty years not living in a winter climate, that I had forgotten how to deal with the cold.

Looking south at sunrise through the snowy vineyard.

When I told Ken what I was doing (I think he was on a trip to North Carolina at the time), he decided to buy a couple of pairs of thermal underwear for our winter walks. They are great and we use them every year (we now have two pairs each). Whenever the outside temperature goes below 5ºC (about 40ºF), I put on the long johns for my walk and I'm very comfortable.

This week, with temperatures dipping to -10ºC, it's hard to imagine not having the long johns at all. And the two shirts, sweatshirt, coat, scarf, hat, and thick gloves. Not to mention the hiking boots. Brrrrr.

* The title of this post translates to "Cold, me? Never!" and was/is the advertising tag line for a famous line of French thermal underwear. I remember seeing their ads all over the Paris subway back in 1981.

16 comments:

  1. Yes, I'm a big fan of long johns. Also thick hiking socks, jodphurs and woollen garments of all sorts.

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  2. Okay, so you've got yourself comfortably insulated, which is fine, but have you tried giving Callie a doggy-coat?

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  3. Long johns = very unsexy old man. But you have to be practical.

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  4. I have never been a fan, although I have two pairs - one for outside and one for inside. Brrrr.

    Central heating is a luxury not a necessity. I could never imagine having the heating on through the night. You would either have to be very rich, or very stupid to do such a thing.

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  5. Hip hip hooray for long johns and layers of all sorts. Jeans are horrible with nothing under them when it's cold out.

    "Moi, froid? Jamais!" Heh! Moi aussi, je me souviens bien de ça!

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  6. Walt,

    I feel for you with all that cold and ice. We're enjoying a mild winter here. I'm loving it. I hope the warm weather arrives in your part of the world soon.

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  7. When I was a kid I remember wearing jeans that came with a fanned lining which showed when the hem was rolled up.

    A company called Winter Silk makes silk underwear which is warm and not bulky. This winter I've discovered polypro fleece pants which are good for warmth also.

    Glad to hear you are staying warm.

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  8. Walt

    You need also a good pair of socks to keep those "toe toes" ( my nephew's lingo) warm in those boots :-)

    WV: boottoll

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  9. Evelyn

    You can still buy those jeans in some outdoor shops. I believe that LL Bean does carry them as well as the silk underwear.

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  10. "Get the right tool for the job!"

    BTW, try silk long underwear sometime. A very nice insulating thin layer.

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  11. So where's the picture of you in your underwear? I know what snow looks like!
    m.

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  12. I'm too cold just hearing and seeing all of the snow... to think of anything to say that hasn't been said already.

    brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

    Mary in OR

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  13. I actually took a pair of long johns to wear in Paris last June.

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  14. I'm off to Berlin next week, where it's currently around -5C, so I'd better try and hunt my ancient ones out (hope the moth hasn't got at them - do moths eat silk?)

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  15. susan, I've started wearing two pairs of socks in the house now. Cold tile floors!

    raybeard, fortunately, she's already got a coat! And she doesn't spend much time outside in this weather.

    andrew, and, unfortunately, unsexy and old. ;)

    john-san, we normally don't use the central heating overnight; it gets too warm for comfortable sleeping.

    judy, yes, just jeans in the cold are awful!

    ron, we're supposed to thaw out a little next week.

    evelyn, I've seen flannel lined jeans in the LL Bean catalog although I've never owned a pair.

    t.b., right!

    ginny, I'll keep my eyes out for some!

    mark, well, you can't see them because of all the other clothes I'm wearing over them. ;)

    mary, brrrrrrr is right!

    starman, in June? LOL

    autolycus, good luck! :)

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  16. I don't blame you... I'm at 3 pairs of socks and slipper boots right now. The only part of me that's exposed are my hands and I'm typing between holding on to my coffee cup for dear life!

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