You can find all episodes of the 'My singular village' series here.

In the summer of 2019, Vérargues was no longer called Vérargues from an administrative standpoint but Entre-Vignes (southern France). On January 1 of the same year, the civil marriage between this small village of some 700 inhabitants and the neighboring town of Saint-Christol – with its population of 1,300 and located just over 2 kilometers away – led to the creation of the first new commune in Hérault (department in southern France). The two towns shared the same geographical location, midway between Montpellier and Nîmes, in a predominantly wine-growing area that includes eight estates around two local flagships, Muscat de Lunel for one and Languedoc-Saint-Christol for the other.

But on June 28, 2019, it was the name of Vérargues that entered the record books of climate history when the temperature reached 46 degrees Celsius, the highest ever in France. Thus far, such extreme levels have not been reached during the heatwave that occurred in late August 2023. The inauspicious data was recorded by a resident who had an approved manual weather station in his garden and alerted Météo-France, France's national weather agency. Previously, this unfortunate record had been held by the town of Gallargues-le-Montueux, some ten kilometers away in the Gard department, where temperatures had reached 45.9 degrees Celsius before Vérargues dethroned it by 0.1 degrees Celsius.

"I don't know why it happened to this village, which isn't that hot a spot," said Danielle (who didn't want to give her name), a native of Saint-Christol who returned to her region some 30 years ago to enjoy a quiet retirement. "Of course, it often gets hot in the summer, but it's still a lovely place with beautiful landscapes." This exceptionally intense hot spell is still etched in the memories of many locals, even if no one wants to spontaneously reminisce about it. "It was a Friday, the last day of work. I'd just come back from a seminar," recalled Michel (who also requested anonymity), a civil servant. Before Covid-19 or after? He hesitated. "I've sort of forgotten because it's been getting hotter and hotter for several years now."

On the other hand, Nicole, a retired teacher of ten years, vividly remembers when the thermometer spiked. "It was the day of my granddaughter's school fair. I had also planned to come and lend a hand to the organizers." The event was canceled at the last minute because of the heat. "It was impossible to breathe," she recalled, "the vegetation was scorched, singed as if there had been a fire."

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