Laura Bradbury's Blog, page 12

The Grape Harvest at Domaine Buffet in Volnay

Check out these amazing photos of the 2014 Burgundy Grape Harvest…

As I write this post, the grape harvest is happening all over Burgundy. My amazing friend Charlotte (who is also Clementine’s godmother) is busy at work at the family Domaine in Volnay (Domaine Buffet) that is now managed by her husband Marc-Olivier. I hadn’t met Charlotte yet in My Grape Escape - she was busy in Paris meeting her now winemaking husband.

Charlotte is a major character in the upcoming My Grape Village (although I had to change her name to “Marie” as having two Charlottes – her and my eldest daughter – was just too confusing for this here writer). We had several hilarious email exchanges where we competed to find the most hideous name for her – my favorite being “Fredigonde” I believe – but for the moment I have been calling her “Marie” in the manuscript as her friendship and that of my other French bestie Isabelle was truly one of the miracles of my years in France.

I will keep posting photos of the Grape Harvest at Domaine Buffet for the next few days…a huge merci to Jacqueline Hogue, another member of my beloved Buffet clan, for taking these phenomenal photos.

The vineyard above supplied the grapes in the first and last photos. These vines are Le clos de la Rougeotte, and the ancient and gnarled cherry tree to the right there is what gives this appellation of Volnay 1er cru such a unique cherry flavour. 

The fact that every section of vineyards in Burgundy creates unique tasting wine based on a myriad of such oddities is what makes Burgundy such hallowed grown for wine lovers.

According to Charlotte B. (or Marie, as you will be getting to know her, or Fredigonde if we decide to go that direction) the 2014 grapes are beautiful and luscious with very little rot. The only shame is that the yield will be low due to the disastrous hail storm when Franck was in France. Rest assured, there may not be a lot to go around but the wine that is going to be made from these grapes above is going to be delectable indeed.

 

Grape Harvest has begun!

The grape harvest in Burgundy has begun! Sue Boxell from “Burgundy on a Plate” wine tours sent this photo yesterday. 

I’m currently finishing up one of my LAST round of edits for “My Grape Village” which will be published next month. I’m at that stage where I feel as one writer friend put it, as though somebody has locked me in a dark closet and is forcing me to smoke every single page of my manuscript without a break! The same day that Sue sent this photo I was editing this scene of Charlotte and Camille taking part in the harvest shortly after our move back to Burgundy. I thought you might enjoy the excerpt!

***

Hand in hand, with the girls skipping in front of us, casting up the ochre vineyard dust, we made our way over to the harvesters. They were a motley crew, dressed in filthy clothes, with T-shirts or shorts tied around their heads to protect them from sunstroke. I knew that some of them were probably doctors and lawyers or other well-heeled friends of the winemaker who came and did the harvest every year, picking side by side with backpacking teenagers and unemployed youth. Harvesting was the great equalizer and they would all be complaining about the heat of the beating sun and sore backs from kneeling down in the dirt all day long.

Unlabeled bottles of wine were being passed up and down the rows. Charlotte and Camille stood at the head of the row, wide-eyed and tiaras askew.  

“Do you want to try to harvest some grapes?” A man with an impressive girth and a pink t-shirt wrapped around his head came over and kneeled down beside the girls. He held out his wickedly sharp shears.

“Go ahead,” I said, while Franck began chatting with another bare-chested man wearing a fraying straw hat. Franck and he seemed to vaguely know each other. I watched as the pink T-shirt man took Camille and Charlotte half way down the row and showed them how to separate the grape bunches from one another and where to cut the grapes off the vine. They cut off several bunches each until the man’s bucket was full.  

He kept up a constant stream of chatter and the girls occasionally nodded yes or no and Charlotte even squeaked out an occasional oui. When he asked them if they were from Savigny the girls shook their heads and Charlotte whispered “Non. Nous sommes Canadiennes.”

“Canada!” he exclaimed, then stood up and shouted out to his fellow harvesters “We have little girls here that have come all the way from Canada to help us with the harvest. Everybody say bonjour to les petites canadiennes!”

Everyone shouted bonjour and Charlotte and Camille were immediately swept into the team of harvesters. My girls snipped off grapes, helped haul buckets to the tractor and then, when that was full, they were invited to ride on the tractor that was festooned with grape vines back to the village. 

Franck and I followed behind on foot through the vineyards.

“Did you know that guy you were talking too?” I asked.

“Vaguely. Turns out he’s a distant cousin, maybe second or third cousin. We couldn’t really figure it out.” This happened often since we arrived in Burgundy. Sometimes I wondered whether Franck wasn’t related in one way or another to most of the people here.

The tractor wove through the narrow streets and into the cuverie at a local winemaker’s family Domaine where the grapes were dumped out on the sorting table. We were all given a glass of freshly pressed grape juice to sip, although our new friend used imaginative miming to explain to the girls that they had to be careful not to drink too much or else they would get an explosive case of diarrhea.

About two hours later we all wandered out of the massive cuverie, Camille and Charlotte both wearing crowns of grape leaves and vines laid over their tiaras. They were smiling from ear to ear. 

CRUSHES – Philosophy of Preschoolers – Volume 2

I just wrote down this recent conversation between Clem and Anna for Volume 2 of Philosophy of Preschoolers. It just gives you a little glimpse at the nuggets of wisom contained inside!

***

Clem: “I still have a crush on Riley you know Anna.”

Anna: “Why are you telling me that Clem?”

Clem: “It’s important. I realized that maybe after the summer you didn’t realize that I still had a crush on Riley after all this time, but I do. Cousins need to tell each other important stuff.”

Anna: “You’re right. I’m having a princess party for my fifth birthday. I’m going to have a princess cake and princess crowns and-”

Clem: “Why are you telling me this Anna?”

Anna: “Because it’s important.”

Clem: “But not important like a crush.”

Anna: (mutinously) “It is. Princess parties are so important…anyway, what does it mean to have a crush?”

Clem: “It means I still love Riley.”

Anna: “Why is it called a crush then? Why don’t you just say that you love him?”

Clem: “Well…it’s called a crush because when you really love someone you want to…you know…crush them on the ground or against a fence.”

Anna: “That would hurt them.”

Clem: “You have to crush them otherwise they might escape. They need to be trapped.”

Anna: “Oh. That makes sense.”

Clem: “You don’t want the boy you love to escape, you see, but they always try to escape and run away. That’s what’s so hard about crushes.”

Anna: “I’m glad I don’t have a crush.”

Clem: “It’s not easy.”

 

“My Grape Village” Publication Update

Dearest amis. With my publication of my ebook Philosophy of Preschoolers a couple of days ago, I didn’t want you to think I had been neglecting the sequel to My Grape Escape entitled My Grape Village. Pas du tout! 

Philosophy of Preschoolers has been hugely fun to put together during those weeks when I was waiting for one or another of the rounds of edits from My Grape Village to come back to me. Here is a great review that was posted today on Amazon.com that does a much better job of summing up this hard-to-describe chef d’oeuvre of the preschool brain than I can:

“I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading The Philosophy of Preschoolers, but what it turned out to be was a complete delight. Clem is a wildly imaginative five year old trying to make sense of the world, and Anna is her smart as a whip, practical three year old cousin. Mom chimes in occasionally, but basically it’s a brilliant My Dinner with Andre, courtesy of Clem and Anna. I laughed aloud multiple times, once or twice wiping tears of laughter, too. Highly recommended!”

I just received the My Grape Village mansucript back from my beta-readers and am racing through this second to last round of edits. Lastly, I will need to do the copy edits but that generally goes quite fast. So if all goes well (fingers & toes crossed) My Grape Village should be available for purchase as both an ebook and a paperback at the beginning of October.

It is also turning out rather larger than My Grape Escape. My Grape Village is clocking in at about 110,000 words whereas My Grape Escape was around 75,000. So, LOTS of new adventures in Burgundy contained between its covers!

I am teaching a workshop on self-publishing at the fantabulous Surrey International Writers’ Conference at the end of October (in the company of Herself aka Diana Gabaldon *gasp*) as well as doing a Keynote speech on giving youself permission to be a writer (before it’s too late) on the Sunday morning. I am determined to have My Grape Village all ready and published by then.

In the meantime this means you are still eligible to win a free week at La Maison de la Vieille Vigne if you go to my website www.laurabradbury.com and sign up for my mailing list before then. Tout le monde on my mailing list will be eligible for the draw.

Bonne chance, keep in touch, and rest assured I am constantly writing, editing, and publishing new things for my readers – truly the loveliest and most supportive people in l’univers.  I think you all deserve a big french bisous. *smack*

Philosophy of Preschoolers Published!

Philosophy of Preschoolers has arrived! If YOU need a break (and…come on…it’s September, who doesn’t?) from being grown-up treat yourself to the “Philosophy of Preschoolers” ebook – 50 of the most hilarious conversations with and between Clem, Anna, and co.. Insight, humour, boogers, contemplation of important questions such as whether Celine Dion farts or not…it’s all here for the modest sum of $2.99 US (or $3.25 on Amazon.ca).

Just click here to buy. 

I just published it yesterday afternoon and already this happened…

As well as this…

So thank you SO MUCH. If you can write a review you will earn the eternal gratitude of me, Clem, and Anna! Reviews really count on Amazon and makes them show our chef d’oeuvre to a huge amount of prospective readers.

 

I Get Knocked Down…

I just heard this song on the radio and blasted it full volume. It is a great motto for writers, meditators, yogis, people dealing with chronic or acute diseases, or just anyone who is engaged in this crazy human adventure we call life.  

That’s notre village!

The lovely Cindy Costello – a former guest and now friend just sent us this great photo of Villers-la-Faye in the late Fall. Makes me feel homesick for my other home en France!

Trouvez Ton Petit Bonheur du Jour

“Finding your little joy in each day” or “Trouvez ton petit bonheur du jour” is a way of life that is cultivated by many French people, some very dear to my heart. It is a philosophy that has helped me and continues to help me navigate the many challenges of life. It is also one of the main themes of “My Grape Village” which I should be finishing up TODAY!!!

 

 

“My Grape Escape” available as The Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon.co.uk

As of an hour ago My Grape Escape is available as The Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon.co.uk from midnight to midnight UK time on July 9th, 2014 (that’s starting now!). Only 99 Shillings!

I Left Mon Coeur in Burgundy