Stephen is taking us on a winery tour today. Before he arrives I take the dogs on a short walk. On our walk a man asks how the dogs lost their legs. I need to get this story straight in proper French. Or maybe I don’t need to be detailed; I just say “Toby was hurt” and “Lucky was born this way.” I can pretty much say that in French. So maybe that’s good enough!
We are going to be gone a few hours and a painter is going to come while we are gone for an estimate for the owners. We decide the dogs need to stay in the garden while we are gone. Howard sets up their crates. There is plenty of shade and I give them lots of water. Howard blocks off the stairs so they cannot get to the second story. Even though it does not matter if the dogs are on the second story terrace, Lucky cannot climb the stairs so he’d be left alone in the garden. We hear them SCREAMING as we depart.
Stephen takes us to Domaine des Trinites in Faugeres; we tasted these great wines at lunch the Saturday before. The drive there takes us through some neat villages and sights. We meet Monica and Simon, the owners and winemakers; what lovely people! We taste Viognier and Cinsualt from the barrel and are looking forward to buying these incredible wines in a few weeks when they are bottled. It is such a pleasure to talk with Monica and Simone about their winery and vision. We taste and purchase Rousanne, rosé, “Le Peche Mege” (33% Grenache Noir, 35% Syrah, 30% Carignan,) & Cuvee 42 (Syrah, Mourvèdre and Grenache) made biodynamically. Cuvée 42 was 25€ and the others were 7€-8€. I say “Great value and great wines!” Monica says to come back and she will give us a tour of the vineyard. I’m ready for that!
We have lunch near the small town of Puissalicon and Cat joins us. We start with an apéritif of sparkling wine with peach (for Howard) and chestnut (for me) liqueur. Our first course is a nice rice salad with hard boiled eggs, olives, red peppers, and vinaigrette. Our main course is steak and french fries (aka frites) followed by Peach Melba for desert. The restaurant is just how Stephen described it: a family-run place with good home cooking.
Catherine’s charity organization is having a “jumble sale” so we stop in. Even though it is advertised as including clothing for everyone in the family, Howard and Stephen are told to leave since women are stripped to their underwear in the garage to try on clothes. I’m looking for towels because the towels the rental management gave us are in a sorry state. Alas, none to be found.
Stephen, Howard and I are off to nearby Domaine La Croix Belle.
The lady there is awfully nice but speaks no English. Stephen does a good job of interacting with her in French; his French has improved considerably in the last 4 years! We only taste the white wines but they are delicious. We purchase Chardonnay (6.8€), “No. 7” which is a melange of 7 white grape varietals (14.9€), and a slightly sweet Muscat that will be a nice apéritif wine (6.8€).
We stop by the nearby home of friends of the Hartley’s: John is a semi-retired actor and his wife is a retired opera singer. John is also an inventor and we admire his solar water heating system for his pool. He shows us his movie room and it is incredible. The fairly small room seats maybe 10-12 people in plush seats in front of a large screen. The walls are lined with movie posters and bookshelves with 100s of DVDs. He says we will be invited to a viewing sometime soon. The Hartleys say John is VERY serious about his movie showings and viewers must show proper respect.
We’ve been gone about 5 hours and we are concerned about the dogs; with good reason as it turns out. Lucien has escaped the barrier from the garden to the upper terrace and has crawled through the very small cat door. So we are surprised that he is running around inside the house. Toby escapes barrier but does not or cannot get through the cat door. And poor Lucky is left alone in the garden since he can’t possibly get over the barrier with his 3 very short legs. When I run down the stairs to get him he runs into his crate giving me the distinct impression he is mad as hell!
So it is clear that leaving the dogs alone for 5 hours is not the best idea!