Eugenia Keegan

Family vacations were not a part of my childhood and in fact, vacations were not much a part of my early life.  I feel a sadness about this and accordingly, they are now an annual fixture in planning.  And let me be clear,  I am making up for lost vacations now….and have no plans to stop.

Last spring when I made my pilgrimage to France, it included a short week in Italy with my brother, his Italian wife Cinzia, and their daughter, now nine, Giulia.  When I emailed Paul that I would be returning to France in spring, but sadly as this was now solely business I would not have the time to pop over to Italy, he took matters squarely in hand and volunteered his family to come to France.  We quickly settled on Lanquedoc and he proceeded to find for us what turned out to be a simply fabulous gîte.  If you are heading in that direction check out Domaine de Curé just outside of Carcassone.

Our hosts were Jean-Noël (American/Japanese born in Geneva) and his wife Agathe, who is French.  They found each other in Japan and after very successful careers decided to exchange the fashion and fame of Tokyo for a bucolic setting in the French countryside.  There are three units and with everyone respecting others’ privacy it was a delightful week with a blend of many social encounters.  We of course were the most rambunctious party (rowdy Americans, vocal Italians and a hot wired nine year old) as our neighbors were German (one couple in their late 20’s, early 30’s, and the other in their 50’s) with no kids.  One couple was returning for their second year and another for their 3^rd year.

Our week included a trip on the Canal Midi, the cité of Minerve, the castle at Lastours, lots of swimming, eating, and just being.  Giulia ran a series of snail races and repeatedly beat me at hangman. When we were not engaged in sporting events or intellectual sparing,  we watched Disney movies in multiple languages, and giggled a lot.  (Truly, the chipmunks in Italian are a riot!).

I arrived at 6:10, they arrived at 6:18, picture taken at 6:30!

After 10 1/2 Hours in the Car.....a Just Reward!

Locks Closing, Canal Midi

A French Fieldtrip: Biking Along the Canal Midi

Leaving Carcassonne

Brother Paul Relaxing....Playing his Daughter's Nintendo

Looking Out

Kids at Play

Managing the Snail Races

I noticed after publishing photos that I do not have any of Cinzia.  Giulia had a new super camera and was the official family photographer and only on occasion did I remember to grab my camera.  I will try to rectify this.  It would take only a flash to see that Giulia’s quiet beauty comes from her mother.  Her strong will and determination???

I have been in France for a number of days.  I am returning to places that are familiar as I stayed in these same places last fall.  Europe must sprinkle some naïve dust on my head because I made the arrogant assumption that everything would be exactly as I left it……waiting for my return.  Although it has been only six months the changes are startling.  Mostly in people’s lives as they are marching forward, growing their homes, businesses, families.  And perhaps some of the naivety is really just a refection of my own life where my surroundings, people, have stayed the same.  Some subtle changes can be seen in the country side as well where roads are repaved, safety barriers are up where there were none before, new houses being built. It is a treat to begin to know the area well enough such that these changes can be noticed.

But, the point I am trying to make here with the conversation about all of the changes….I was out of internet access for over a week!  It was weird.  These were places that had WIFI before and for one reason or another there was no access this trip.  On one hand I hated it and on the other it was very freeing.   Yikes, no facebook, no email, no twitter, and in my case not even a mobile.  Other than not being able to let David know that I had arrived safe and sound it was not much of a personal hardship, but for business it is immobilizing.

The days in Maury were spent working on vineyard selection, blends, and business arrangements for the future.  Frankly, this is damn hard.  The language is less of a barrier as my French is always improving but the business climate is restrictive and bureaucratic (I believe that the French invented this concept!).  The laws rarely make sense (to me, an American that is) in that they continually inhibit one’s ability to do business, but on the other hand if one understands that some fee or tax is to be levied, then it all becomes clear.  Find a way to add a charge to every act of commerce and you have the rule.

Having said that, the K2 project is well underway.  Oh yes, K2.  I have used this label from time to time for special projects and this project is a great candidate.  The KEEGAN CELLARS label will be reserved for wines that I make myself.  K2 will act somewhat like a negociant label.  The first K2 bottling will be from Roussillon.  There are many details to finalize and until they are final I will wait to reveal them.  Nothing like retractions and rewrites to frustrate everyone.  Most importantly it appears that I have found a solid partner.

The weather my first week was perfect.  Mornings were chilly and the right time to head out for a walk.  I soon recognized my fellow walkers, all men with little to do.  Those who did have something to do were in their gardens toiling tirelessly to bring tasty fruits and vegetables to the dining table.  And as always, the women had more than enough to do.  The afternoons were warm and breezy.  One such lovely day I headed out to the famous French landmark, the Château de Quéribus.  I had made an effort to visit this monument of high altitude living last fall, but that day was socked in with fog.  I started up the winding road until I could not see five feet in front of me.  I knew that to the right of me was a drop of no return and rather than take that “flight” I turned around.  After driving up there this trip I know how wise a decision that was.  Remember those guard rails I mentioned earlier?  Well, that crew has not made it to Roussillon!

A lengthy walk uphill to the castle was heart pumping, and well….ruins are ruins. I returned to my auto and started down the “back” side of the hill.  I was now in Corbières, Department of Aude, heading for the quaint village (I know, aren’t they all?) of Cucugnan.

Château de Quéribus

The next castle is Château de Peyrepertuse.  Again, an interesting ruin and reminder of the need to have one’s home as high up as possible so there was plenty of time to see the aggressor heading toward you.  Although visiting a couple of castles was the “reason” for the trip what took my by complete surprise were the unbelievable number of wildflowers.  I think I stopped taking photos after 45-50 different lovely delicate flowers.  I hope that there is a book with all of this abundance of beauty.  For now here are a couple of teasers:

And Finally, Château de Peyrepertuse

I should be apologizing repeatedly for not posting for ages, but something keeps me from getting this done (the posting, not the apologizing!). Not sure why. I am always pleased after I have chronicled what I am doing. But then there is this nagging sense that my days have no significance and this is egotistical bullcrap. Either way, I do enjoy it once I put my focus heretois*.

After working on the pruning videos I realized that the two styles of pruning shown were very useful and applied to many situations, but were not specific to the so-called premise of this exercise, Old Vine Grenache. The older bush pruned or spur pruned vines are fundamentally handled the same, but the look is very different. I asked my good friend (with whom I am having dinner this very evening….might be just the kick in the tuchus that I needed to post), if he would kindly help me demonstrate pruning for the style of growing common to most old vines (not just grenache).

Here is Jean-Marc Espinasse of Domaine Rouge-Bleu (http://rouge-bleu.com) with a demonstration of head/spur pruning in his outrageous Old Vine Grenache vineyard, Lunatique (the sound is a bit rough but the images are lovely; listen carefully for a first class pruning lesson):

*hertois: some knockoff of the legalese heretofore, heretowith, etc. But here, is is is.

I received an email from a dear friend with whom I have travelled to France on more than one occasion (including last spring).  Her French is very good, but she too is a bit timid launching into the language. However having said that, we ALWAYS called upon and counted on Dana whenever we needed something really important (like reservations at a three star restaurant or a famous wine estate).   She never let us down.

In her email she asked, “So, how’s your French?  Let me put it right out there that without any qualification:  My cellar French is exceptional!  As those words hardly work elsewhere, what happens outside the cellar?  What I have learned more than anything else is a level of confidence that allows me to openly bastardize this beautiful language without much shame.  I am over being timid.  In fact, recently when asked to repeat my order to a somewhat intoxicated hanger on at a small bar in Béziers I answered in French, “Just for you sir I will repeat myself very slowly.  This might help you (gesture here) understand”. My glass of wine and sandwich arrived promptly.

This is my last post from France for this trip.  My plane leaves in a couple of hours.  A post script from stateside is forthcoming.  Á tout á l’heure!

Béziers turned out to be a very interesting city.  As Malcolm said it is indeed a working city.  There are not really any tourist destinations, however a city of this age has plenty of interesting historical sites.  The city itself is busy, sometimes loud, a bit dirty, and always on the move.  There is a large ethnic mix which keeps the tradition evolving.  The cuisine certainly mirrors this.  I suppose my only real complaint is the overwhelming amount of dog pooh.  Truly, it a site to behold.  The sweepers come through three days a week.  They are followed by a large “hotsy” that then washes off the brushes.  I wanted to do a post that was only pictures of the offending goo.  Although some people would think it funny and perhaps artsy (think the Brooklyn Art Museum exhibition Sensation), others (think my mother) would consider it in very poor taste.  Suffice to say, the mothers won out.

Tourist town or no, I found some lovely sites.

My Neighborhood

Next Street Over

Local Afternoon Hangout

Allées Paul Riquet, The Center of All Life

Pierre-Paul Riquet, Founder Canal du Midi

Looks Like They Moved!

Friday Market

Lunch!

Choice of 'Shrooms

Local Fish Stand

Amusement Along the Allée

Local Harvest Celebration

Fountain Along the Allée

Local Inhabitant