Fiona Alderman: A Waltz Through The Vineyards

dom perignon

After a very stressful time with workmen and roof repairs, I have now settled down at the end of the day, to chill out with a nice glass of wine or two and reflect on the past few months. I have also been immersed in another 30 day Challenge with Comme une Francaise, Geraldine Lepere. As it happens, this one has been about wine regions in France. A vast subject as I have found, and I have been reminiscing about our lovely holidays in France some years ago.

Barry and I used to drive all the way down from Glasgow, stopping at various watering holes along the way, and get the ferry over to France. Our main idea was always to take the B routes, avoiding as much as possible auto routes, and see the real France. One year we visited the Loire, saw some amazing Chateaux and went to lots of wine tastings! The Champagne region too was memorable. There are over 300 Houses of Wine there and one street I remember near Reims, with huge buildings with nameplates to die for Moet Chandon, Veuve Cliquot and Dom Perignon. I learnt recently that “sabrer le champagne” was a skilful and dramatic way to open the bottle. Literally shoot the cork out with a sword. Rubbing the neck gently then swiftly piercing the cork upwards and outwards in an arc, it looks dangerous, but it does need an expert to do it.

We went to the Burgundy area too – a region renowned for delicious meals such as Boeuf Bourgignon, Coq au vin and escargots. Nice wines like Pinot Noir and Chablis. The wines differed wherever we went. The Rhone Valley and the powerful reds from near Lyon, the light fresh white wines from the Loire are my favourite, and the rose from Corsica and Provence.

Here in the Dordogne, we have local wines such as Bergerac, Bordeaux and Cahors. I also learnt that there was an Orange wine from here, that I didn’t know about before. It originates from Georgia nearly 5000 years ago. With tradition the grapes were not pressed before fermentation began. They instead were macerated with all the solid parts, skin, stalks and seeds. This would release the tannins and pigments giving it’s rich orange colour. It has a slightly sweet taste, I was informed by my local Cafe owner when I asked him. I am going to try and find a bottle.

Waltzing through to the Beaujolais Nouveau. This I am afraid is a bit of a hype and the French themselves don’t really like it.  Just marketing and not very good wine itself I am sorry to say.

Giverny

Giverny Monet's House

Jean-Pierre Dalbéra from Paris, France, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

This was the  beautiful house where the Impressionist painter Claude Monet lived and worked. Just outside Paris and a complete delight to the eye and the senses. I have been meaning to write about this for a while, but I don’t think I can do it justice. I haven’t been there myself but recently came across a lovely video which reinforced my desire to see it. Monet and his family lived there from 1883 and it’s where his famous paintings of the water lilies and Japanese style bridge came from. Apparently he painted this bridge 45 times.

garden at giverny

Art Anderson, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

The gardens are a riot of colour and all sorts of flowers mix with others. He had a horror of an organized, neat style in his garden layout, preferring to have the blossoms freely flourishing in the light. The reflections in the water underneath the bridge and the constant shift of light made his paintings unique.

Inside the house is also a feast for the eye. The dining room is painted a magnificent ochre yellow and the blue porcelain used on the table and dressers offset it well. I was inspired by this colour and now have my own kitchen with a few walls of this colour. I call them My walls of Monet. Better in French. Les Murs de Monet. He was a passionate collector of Japanese prints and these are everywhere in the house, as are paintings by his friends (ie casually ) such as Cezanne, Renoir, Pissarro, Manet , Morisot and Sisley, who were all from that period of time. The façade is painted a bright pink with shutters an equally sharp green, but it all merges in with the outdoor gardens in one glorious portrait of colour.

Monet died there in 1926 and the house went to his son Michel, who didn’t live there but a daughter in law, Blanche,  looked after it for many years until it was bequeathed to the Academy of Fine Arts.  Now a museum that welcomes over 500,000 visitors a year.

I will visit it as it looks like an absolute treasure.

And to finish… ” Le Biden de Salignac ” ie not my quote but in the local paper about the re election of  Monsieur Jacques Ferber, aged 80,  to our Commune. 4 times in 4 years as the  Mayor. He does a great job. Does Mr Biden ?

3rd October, 2024. Fifi’s stories from rural France.

Fiona Alderman's Blog: Salignac or Condat?
Fiona Alderman: An August Story in France

This section: Fiona Alderman blogging from The Salignac Foundation France

Written by :

Avatar of PatByrne Publisher of Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End; the community guide to the West End of Glasgow. Fiction and non-fiction writer.

Comments are closed.

Copyright Glasgow Westend 2009 thru 2017

Contact Pat's Guide to Glasgow West End | About Pat Byrne | Privacy Policy | Design by Jim Byrne Website Design