A floppy-eared Sunday here at the farm.. ceci et cela (seuh see ay seuh lah) : this 'n that Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the following wordsDownload MP3 file or Wav file (MP3 not working? Try the Wav file and cross fingers!) Ceci et cela… ou un peu de tout dans cette édition.This 'n that… … Continue reading ceci et cela
The exact meaning and origin of "fuzzy dice" is unclear, but one theory holds that U.S. pilots in World War II used dice in their cockpits for good luck, and they continued the practice when they came home from the war. (Text & image from Wikipedia) dés en peluche (day on peh loosh) noun, masculine : fuzzy dice. Audio File: Listen to Jean-Marc pronounce these French … Continue reading des en peluche
I've seen a lot of corks in my day, but have never seen them so displayed… picture taken in the village of Nuits St. Georges, in Burgundy. aviner (ah vee nay) : to rinse one's wine glass with wine before sampling another wine Example Sentence: Avant de déguster un nouveau vin, il faut aviner le verre.Before tasting a new wine, you must rinse your … Continue reading Aviner: a French verb having to do with winetasting
"Pain and Hope" as personified by Mama Braise (left) and Smokey Doo. Read about a wine farmer's struggle, in today's missive. la gnac (nee ack) noun, familiar pugnacity, the will to win avoir la gnac (also spelled "gnaque", "niaque") : to be driven, "to have a fire in the belly" (thanks, "Newforest", for this updated definition). This term "avoir la gnac" is used by … Continue reading gnac
Michel and Olivier (in red) enjoying an apéro. Lunch at the picnic table. From left to right: Olivier, Jacques, Eric, and Jean-Marc. When they finished pulling the burrs out of their hair and clothing, Olivier and Jacques set to work on the dogs… Braise gets a trim… It took scissors to get some of the burrowed in burrs out… A burr-free Smokey and a burr-free … Continue reading Weed-o-Thon Workers
… make that “Colliours Salon de Thé“! Jean-Marc and I were here for our 7th?, 8th?, 9th?… anniversary (no, that’s not us in the window, though we looked kind of like that 7 or 8 or 9 years ago!). Continue reading Collioures Cafe
"Chief Grape". Meet Jean-Marc in DC this coming March 8th for a tasting of his wines or later in many other US cities mauvaise herbe (moh vayz airb) : weed arracher les mauvaises herbes = to pull weeds Audio file: (check back later… will update the site this afternoon!) A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse The sun is shining, cutting through the haze that … Continue reading mauvaise herbe
Back when Jean-Marc and a couple of guys planted 4000 baby vines in triple fast time (see for yourself). My eyes always tear up when I see this: my husband’s dream expanding… … and I won’t even hold it against him if he used “our” song, sharing it with “his” beloved grapes… “One Love” indeed! I continue to learn, daily, to share my husband with … Continue reading Planting Baby Vines
Name this photo (taken in the seaside town of Collioure). You might even give the hungry “hero” of this scene a thought bubble (now how to say ‘thought bubble’ in French?)…. < = view previous photo Continue reading l’ardoise (f) = the blackboard menu
A quiet balcony in the town of Nyons, France. Have you ever been to Nyons? Do you know what this town is famous for? View the next photo => Continue reading Le Balcon
