So last night just before dinner, we realized the gas on the stove wasn’t working. As a result, Mike ran to the store and picked up a couple of pizzas (including a goat cheese one for him and me) to bake in the oven. Thankfully it’s not too cold here yet, only dipping into the 40s at night, because we have radiator heat, which doesn’t work without any gas. It still wasn’t working this morning, so we emailed the apartment owner, who offered to stop by on his way to work.
When the owner arrived, he saw the gas man working on things, so it was clear that it was a building issue…not just our apartment. The owner explained to us that they are doing road work and are super careful about turning off any gas lines nearby as they don’t want to trigger “un tremblement de terre” (earthquake)! (This is how I interpreted the explanation. I think the real reason is that because they’ve had earthquakes before, they are extra cautious about gas lines.:) ) Annecy and surrounding areas, have had earthquakes in the past and not just the distant past. Well, that was something we definitely hadn’t thought about before!
Upon hearing about the earthquakes, we did a little research on how the Alps were formed and what kind of faults exist. For your reading pleasure and knowledge, the Alps are fold mountains, formed by masses squeezing and then rising up and out of the sea. Often they would break and slide over one another, forming gigantic thrust faults. All this said, I’m fine with shutting the gas off here or there as a precaution, if it means lessening the chances of experiencing an earthquake!
We have no pictures of earthquakes — thank goodness — so here’s a random, more peaceful, non-shaking picture of us hanging out on a quiet, rainy afternoon. 🙂
Mike’s new gig looks like a good one!