Monday 7th April to Sunday 13th April
Monday 7th April
Author: Jack
Try not to wake Tom up too early. He isn’t much used to seeing the day start before midday unless absolutely necessary! However am unable to let him lie for too long as there are jobs to be done. Having taken beck to school we are free to work in the vineyard. Having moved on from tying down it is now necessary to check each and every row to ensure that all the young vines, removing their protective plastic socks where necessary, to remove any debris from the rows and most important of all to count the number of vines that need to be replaced. Occasionally we find a vine that needs to be re-tied. Tom has a go at the machine and cannot understand what all the fuss was about saying, “This tying down machine is a piece of cake, don’t know why you’re complaining”. Must ensure he has a few hectares to do next year if he thinks it’s that easy!
After lunch I head off to the Cooperative with Joel to see what the situation is regarding this year’s harvest. It seems that Joel has a contract with the Cooperative that is valid up to and including next year’s harvest. For us this means that we can sell our grapes there this year and next, which is both good news and bad. If we are in a position to make our own wine next year we will be liable basically to a forfeit! But will be worth it. We were in the office of the president and the Vice-President of the Cooperative. Neither desk had a PC on it and it has struck me now on many occasions that PCs are rarely evident in offices, unlike in England. Everyone seems to spend forever filing in forms manually and of course relying on that trusted office aid, the calculator. No exception at the Cooperative. The calculator was red hot as usual and once again I was amazed at the complexity of the calculations required to determine the amount of our ‘forfeit’. I wonder if the figure will be the same next time it is calculated!
Tuesday April 8th
Author: Jack
Give Tom a chance for a bit of a lie in so we don’t head out for the vineyard until gone midday. We have devised a schema for counting the vines that need to be replaced. Basically we will end up with a map of the entire vineyard on a spreadsheet (how do the French manage without Pcs?). Tom does the counting and marking off on the sheet whilst I scrabble around tidying up and trimming the young vines. Good job he’s doing a Maths degree.
We decide to eat out this evening and head to one of our favourite restaurants in Allemans where the hors d’oeuvres table alone is enough to fill you up. Just another four-course meal for less than £7, wine included of course.
Wednesday April 9th
Author: Jack
No school for Beck today as it is Wednesday; normal day off. However it is also the start of the Easter holidays so no school until the Tuesday after next. Despite Beck not liking my being in the vineyard we had decided to carry on at least for a few hours. However fortune was on her side as it started raining fairly early and continued for most of the day.
A representative from Agrifoy, a local viticultural supply company, visited in the morning to discuss our cuverie requirements. We spent nearly two hours discussing equipping and building the cuverie and I have to say I was very impressed with the services offered by them. Even more impressive was the fact that not once did he produce a calculator. That alone gained the company loads of brownie points as far as I was concerned! Anyway he left promising to supply me with a rough cost estimate and to arrange a couple of visits to other cuveries to check out their work. Seemed very promising.
The phone rang and when I picked it up I heard a voice say ‘Allo, zis iz flower’s muzzer’ How bizarre! She is trying very hard to speak English but I guess at some point I should tell her that she doesn’t need to translate her daughter’s name – apart from anything else it really doesn’t sound right when translated! Anyway likely that Beck and Flower will get together on Friday.
After lunch we all head off to Bergerac to do some ‘pink and purple’ shopping. Have decided to decorate Becks room for her at the weekend so need to find some paint and furnishings for her room. French paint is notoriously awful so we needed to find a shop that sold one of the better makes of paint. Found some ‘Dulux Valentin’, very pricey, about £26 for a 2.5 litre tin. Decide to take a gamble on one tin being enough at that price. We check out a few shops and make a note of the prices of various pink and purple items. Am planning on an IKEA raid tomorrow so wanted to know what was available from the competition.
Thursday April 10th
Author: Jack
Tom is going back this afternoon so as the weather is better today we decide to spend the morning relaxing around the house. Beck soon has him involved playing football and catch outside. All too soon it’s time to head off for Bordeaux airport again. Tom’s flight is at 4.40. We check in and wander off to check out the few shops. He has to go through to departures at four. As we head for the departure gate we discover that the area has been cordoned off. Apparently they have found an unattended bag! Three quarters of an hour later we hear a small explosion – that’s the end of that then! Tom is not amused. The last time he flew from Bordeaux he was delayed by two and a half hours because of snow on the runway at Stanstead. He thinks he’s jinxed. We say yet another sad goodbye; expect I’ll get used to saying goodbye one day.
And it’s off to raid IKEA. Life in France without IKEA would be unthinkable. Most shops either sell really cheap old rubbish or very expensive ‘rubbish’. If you want something modern or even slightly stylish it costs a small fortune, if you can find it. Hard to believe I know but IKEA represents excellent quality for the price in comparison. Not only that the designs aren’t restricted to the French idea of style which is, to say the least, about thirty years out of date. Needless to say we leave with the car loaded to the gunnels.
Friday April 11th
Author: Jack
Well can’t believe that I am back to decorating again. Having spent what seems like all winter decorating the house in Offham I am once again about to take up the paintbrush! But before I do have to go to La Vitaille to collect all our painting and decorating stuff including a very valuable tin of white gloss paint – unheard of in France! Decide to call in on the neighbours; after all they will know I am there I am sure. In fact not only did they know that I was there but they also knew that the estate agent had just shown someone round the house! Hope they like it – we need to sell something to fund this crazy venture.
After lunch I drop Beck off at Fleur’s for the afternoon and am off to the Maison du Vin to find out what rules and regulations we need to comply with in order to be able to make AOC Cote de Duras wine. Unfortunately the person I need to see is not available so will have to return on Monday. So I decide to check out the local competition. The Maison du Vin has a range of wine for sale from local producers. I select a few so that we can start sizing up the opposition!
Flower’s muzza! brings Rebecca back at around 6 p.m. and I invite her in. She has a cup of tea and we sit chatting in what seems to be becoming our own version of Franglais. Fleur’s mum tries to talk in English and I try to talk in French. In this way we find ourselves able to discuss lots of things, each correcting the other’s language mistakes. We even manage to have a lengthy discussion on the subject of kilts! She thought a skirt was called a kilt so I embarked upon what turned out to be a lengthy explanation of why a kilt is so called!
She didn’t leave until 8 p.m. by which time the roast potatoes had, which had just gone in the over before she arrived, looked more like rocks. So roast dinner became pasta once again!
Saturday April 12th
Author: Jack
And it’s back to decorating – all day! This is not something I wish to write about really, save to say that I am trying to do it as quickly as possible!
For evening entertainment we have an invitation from Fleur’s Dad, who is an artist, to an art exhibition in Monteton. Turns out it is in someone’s house, a lovely house I might add. We are greeted by the quintessential Poirot, complete with thin curly moustache would you believe. It was hard to keep a straight face. We wander round the house looking for some inspiration from the paintings. But most were too modern. However the house was much more interesting. Bizarre though, paintings were even being displayed in the bathroom!
Any way we didn’t hang around and headed home for dinner and a rest! Because tomorrow I am …
Sunday April 13th
Author: Jack
..decorating again!!! First job…paint ceiling again! It didn’t look very good – in fact the ceiling was covered in grey streaks! So paint ceiling again …then paint the walls with Becks assistance. Had bought just one 2.5 litre tin of paint as paint here of any quality is extremely expensive. Managed to complete all the walls with just half an inch of paint left. Phew. Too much! Nearly finished though and the ‘bleu provencale’ is a lovely shade of lavender blue.
