At last - a Blogdog
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There are such a lot of people posting pictures of their beautiful canine friends on these blogs that I'm beginning to feel like some sort of infidel in not having one.
So today I though I'd post a picture of Venus. We met Venus (pronounced Vinoos, of course), just outside Epernay in the Champagne region of France a couple of years ago. Her owner, a Monsieur Colin, was like an indulgent father as he shooed her from one part of the building to another on our walk through, and stopped her from launching herself into one of the vats and jumping up on the riddling racks.
I specially remember this Champagne house, because although it was small, M. Colin insisted the five of us (the girls were then 15, 13 and 11) taste the wines in proper quantities, and made our own Colin translate what the girls said they could taste - I recall he had some trouble remembering the French for "cinnamon" when Emma said she could taste the stuff you put in apple pies. Children's unspoilt, virgin palates, M. Colin explained, were a winemaker's delight, because (and I translate this loosely), they hadn't been tainted by bad diets, cheap red wine and pretentious wine writers. He was visibly excited about the cinnamon.
Anyway, because Colin was driving and the girls were only used to very small tasting amounts of wine, I ended up surreptitiously drinking a great deal of everyone else's. I remember almost tripping over poor little Venus on the way out, and M. Colin being very gracious and telling me she did it to everyone and while lovely, was supremely silly.
I still have the tasting glasses we bought there. They remind me of a lovely afternoon, a mad little silky terrier, and the French way of life. This last was illustrated when we turned up just after 11.30 in the morning and asked if M. Colin would show us around and allow us to taste his wine. He looked at his watch, and said in horrified French "But it is nearly a quarter to 12! Do you not have lunch?" Of course, we said, we would be pleased to come back after lunch. "Excellent. Venus and I are going to lunch now. Shall we say half past three?"
Beautiful.
posted by MargieCM at 11:11 am
35 Comments:
One day I have to get to Australia...there's so much I want to see in the world.
Sully
Awe Venus is soooo cute!!!..If nippa wasn't blind his tongue would be hanging out at this picture..
Well that place sounds like a perect day out..what more could one ask...Wine and cute doggys!..
Hi Sully - thanks for dropping in! Yes, you should definitely try to come. Trouble is, the airfare alone is such a killer. If it makes you feel any better, there are still many places here I haven't seen yet either. And hundreds I'd like to see in other countries.
Gypsy, I'll tell you what more I could ask - an unlimited (or at least less limited) budget to do it more frequently and for longer.
Funny though - he didn't offer me a Noir vintage. Ah well, nothing's perfect.
Oooh Venoos! 'ow coote!
Doos shee steel leeve en France orr deed yooo remooove heerr tooo yourr own place du residence?
What a wee princess!
What's your cat's name?
Oh, Noir Sham-pain is only available exclusively from E-Bay or Noir INC PLC..Or that dodgy bloke at the back of the Abattior..
Dale, I tried to stuff her in my bag - in fact thought I had - but I was so plastered after all those bubbles I think she ended up down some poor Frenchman's trousers instead.
Oh, and my cat's name is Sadie, and unlike Vinoos, she knows to keep her distance from me when I've had a couple.
Ah, Gypsy, of course. Silly me. Can you put me down for a couple of doz. next time you do a run?
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Sorted!..i'll even chuck in some happy glasseees, not that you would need them after one sip of this stuff..
In the words of Monty Python it sort of compares to..
Australian Table Wines
A lot of people in this country pooh-pooh Australian table
wines..
This is a pity, as many fine Australian wines appeal not
only to the Australian palette, but also to the cognoscenti of
Great Britain..
"Black Stump Bordeaux" is rightly praised as a peppermint
flavoured Burgundy, whilst a good "Sydney Syrup" can rank with
any of the world's best sugary wines...
"Chateau Bleu", too, has won many prizes; not least for its taste, and its lingering afterburn...
"Old Smokey, 1968" has been compared favourably to a Welsh claret, whilst the Australian wino society thouroughly recommends a 1970 "Coq du Rod Laver", which, believe me, has a kick on it like a mule: 8 bottles of this, and you're really finished -- at the opening of the Sydney Bridge Club, they were fishing them out of the main sewers every half an hour..
Of the sparkling wines, the most famous is "Perth Pink". This is a bottle with a message in, and the message is BEWARE!. This is not a wine for drinking -- this is a wine for laying down and avoiding..
Another good fighting wine is "Melbourne Old-and-Yellow", which is particularly heavy, and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat..
Quite the reverse is true of "Chateau Chunder", which is an
Appelachian controle, specially grown for those keen on
regurgitation -- a fine wine which really opens up the sluices at both ends...
Real emetic fans will also go for a "Hobart Muddy", and a prize
winning "Cuiver Reserve Chateau Bottled Nuit San Wogga Wogga",
which has a bouquet like an aborigine's armpit.
Gypsy! Oh thankyou so much for posting that - it's a sentimental favourite, and "a wine for laying down and avoiding" is a phrase which is regularly invoked here and by my brother whenever a particularly gruesome bottle is opened. One of those lovely "in-jokes" families have.
Mind you, the fact that we have to invoke it so often is a bit of a worry, and says a lot about how much I'm prepared to spend on my daily quaffing red.
I'm laughing like a madwoman here!
Venus is tres mignon. I would have stuffed him in the bag, oh oui!
xx
AM
Venus is adorable. I enjoyed the picture, I might be one of those always posting pics of their dogs! bore!
What a cutie....xx
Tres mignon. Le petit choux est tres belle. I wonder why the french refer to something cute and wonderful as a little cabbage? oh well, we call people honey and that really doesn't make any sense either.
Hello Anne-Marie, Grace and Lesley!
Ah yes, the cabbage. I remember Kenny Everett (UK in the late seventies?) having a wonderful French / Franglais character called Marcel, who called people "my litle vol au vent" and such things. It reminds me a little of that.
No Grace - the doggie posts aren't in the least boring! I just felt a bit out of it without one so I "borrowed" Venus for a post of my own. She was adorable, and quite fearless. I think she was only about three months old at the time. It was pretty hard to catch her being still long enough to take a photo!
okay,. I know I'll get lynched for this, but as cute as Venus us... I would need a bigger dog, if i ever have another. My part-time dog Urfe (my landlord's dog whom we "shared") had to be putdown last week. Poor thing had a tumour and her shoulder just shattered.
She was a Belgian Shepard.
If ever I have my own dog again, and luckily Ian is in agreement, I really would like a border collie.
But the little ones are very cute... I would just rather visit the little nippers!
Hey Margie,
Sorry I havent blogged for a while. I just saw you on the Channel 10 news. The item about public verses private schools! I recognized your name from here and from when I had emailed you about my brothers wine. I couldnt believe it! Ive never met you in person but I knew it was you straight away!
Way to go girl!
Neans
Aha! Margie, don't worry about that, the phraze we use is..
Another good fighting wine is "Melbourne Old-and-Yellow", which is particularly heavy, and should be used only for hand-to-hand combat..
very apt in this town..lol..
i think the odd (very odd) tipple is a good recipe for life, i love the sound of your family..perfect!..
{whenever a particularly gruesome bottle is opened.}...pmsl at that!..
Stevie - don't worry - I'm much too lazy to lynch anyone, and I'm not usually a fan of tiny yappy dogs either, so no problem. I quite like setters and cocker spaniels - don't need a dog smarter than I am!
Ha Neans! I was rather hoping no-one would see that - I did it only as a favour to the principal at the school, and of course they used the one soundbite that made me sound like an elitist blue-ribbon Camberwell mum (shudder). And to say I "struggled" with the decision to send the girls there! What I actually said was we looked around at all the options, private and government, and this came out as the best. Bastards. I promise I said lots of intelligent things, and was so pro-State schools it was almost embarrassing. Em was funny though - during a break in the filming, she asked the interviewer "have you ever seen "Frontline?" He just laughed and said yes, it was all true. And it is.
Gypsy, some of my favourite memories from my teenaged years are long Sunday lunches where my Dad would produce bottles of Italian wine (he went through a phase) and offer them as nectar. My brother, then about 19 and going through his wine snob phase, would pronounce them "absolute piss". After arguments lasting well into cheese and plate-clearing, Dad would swill around the dregs of his last glass and say "you're right, it is (expletive du jour) awful".
We just carry on the tradition.
Way hey Margie!!! S'mee Vallypee!!! I'm just flying in for a whooosh of a visit and flying out again, as I'm going to be tied up with my kiddies (as I call Mo and Craig) till they leave on 8 August. We've been having quite an adventurous time so far, so hope to blog about that soon....
Love this story! The teeny dog is adorable and so verrry Frrrench in style. What a delightful way to meet and greet a Frenchman and his pooch. Wine tasting is an experience I remember well from the Cape in SA. Long golden summer evenings softened further by the warm glow of gentle inebriation...aaaah!
Flying in Vally? So what are you - the wicked witch of the wet? (Geddit - you live on a boat - wet - har har) oh hell you'd better come back soon before I lose it completely!
I love your traditions!..
My mum used to throw big partys..specially at new year.. we as children were not allowed down stairs, but as the party goers got more tippsy they wouldn't notice us sneeking down..However, we knew we were not allowed to drink and as a child i hated the smell let alone the taste..I had my first drink when i was 17..my sister took me to a pub, she made me smoke a fag to look older, but I didn't know how!..I had a cherry-B and cider..was drunk on one..when I went home my mum hurried me in to bed before my father came in from the late shift at work..I would have been in deep trouble if he had seen me!..
Hi Margie!
This story put me in such a good mood - well, in even a better mood than I already was as I've had such a perfect day today. A great great miniature piece of writing which takes the little Venus and from there expands into an account of a cherished day. There is something about France, eh?
Gypsy - that's lovely. Grown-up parties always seemed so glamourous and mysterious, didn't they? I remember lying upstairs in bed listening to tehm all talking and laughing, then the next morning iI would sneak down early and taste what was left in the glasses. I didn't like the wine, but I liked the taste of gin and tonic. It was always such a disappointment when a promising level in a glass turned out to be soda water - awful. What a decadent child.
Wasn't your mum sweet and protective? Love that.
Hi Maria - I've just come back from yours. Glad you liked the story, and yes, there is certainly something about France! We're going back in January, (brrr) but only to Paris this time. We do plan to do a longer driving trip through France in a couple of years though if all goes well. Just have to figure out how to pay for it!
I appreciate your comments with regard to my sweet wife and her difficulties. She is doing better right now.
Thank you very much indeed.
And...
That is one very little dog on your blog. Wow.
--Dan L.
I always like to see you drop by, glad you like my pictures. You have some beautiful waters in your world!
Hello Margie girl!
Wish I'd seen you on the telly!
And Gypsy, I think if I ever get to Northumberland, or you to the Rocky Mountain Trench (Home of the Trench Wenches... Gooooo wenches!) we are going to have to have late night of python, you and I! After the pub, of course.
ooh yes me you and margie and co..trying to recite python whilste tipsy..
slur..hic..."i used to dream of living in a shoe box"..hic!..
LOL!
Gylpsy and Sveveie...ccnhount meein!
i found that rather like attempting to type a verification word...
molapzc...here goes again.
i bet I can shtil sing the philophosers song after any munber of glarssses ...
Is this the right room for an arguement?..
I've told you once ...
No you did not!..
Allo Margie...s'mee sindybin! I'se got summat ter show yoo on me bloggy fingy...tee hee, I's bin at mumz pooter....shhhh tho or shez'll be reeeeely cross wiv me...dunno why tho...s'not fair...luv an lix Sindybin
You wanna fight? Well you can't have one!
He he, I'm back Margie...and just to be picky...when are you going to do a new post now...hmmmm??
I've done one (says she with a smug smile) xxx
Oh I see Ms Smug - it's all right for you to go swanning off for weeks, but if anyone else dares not to post hourly bleeding updates it's off with their heads!
No, seriously though, fair do's - I admit I've been a bit off the boil here of late. Tomorrow I'll sit down and do something - too much running around today!
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