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Hello and bonjour! Ça va?
We are doing well and settling into our new home away from home in Chavot-Courcourt – a small village just south of Épernay.
For the first time in my life, I am a mini-van owner! I know! It perfectly suits our purpose for this year as we will be picking up family and friends from train stations and need room for luggage, not to mention exploring the region with Muriel and Murphy Brown. It is a Citröen Picasso C4 We have yet to come up with a name and we are open to suggestions…
Mackenzie had her first ‘playdate’ yesterday. It went well but it was eerily quiet as the girls spoke different languages, yet they had fun in our mini-pool, the tree swing, and playing soccer. We found a summer camp, so to speak, for Mackenzie and she is trying it out today. There are a few kids enrolled that will be in her class next year so it made sense to get the full-on immersion going.
Dave and I headed out for a drive to Avize. Avize is a ‘Grand Cru’ village of Chardonnay grapes which means that all the vineyards are classified at 100% on the grape ranking system. According to Wikipedia, there are over 400 grape growers in Avize and they harvest 3,350 tonnes of grapes each year. We parked our car and headed down Rue de Oger and simply followed the road signs that had grape bunches on them – why not?
It was too early for a tasting so, instead, we found a fantastic patisserie/boulangerie and grabbed a bottle of water and two divine creations which we inhaled on the steps of St. Nicolas Church. We sat and listened to church bells ringing out the time and stumbled across a hiking… (Ahhh! – a fighter plane just literally flew at lightening speed over my and scared the living daylights out of me….exhale, the people next door are still sipping champagne and smiling so everything must be fine?!?)
Je m’excuse – we stumbled across a hiking path that connects a series of trails around Avize as well as parts of the national and regional French hiking routes…Dave was in his glory and he has just now headed out for a hike as just down the road from us is a pathway that is a part of the Santiago de Compostela pilgrim hike.
Tomorrow afternoon I am being picked up by my new friend, Maureen and taken to a 2:30 meeting at the largest growers’ champagne brand, Nicolas Feuillatte.
I will write about my experience as soon as I can!
XO
C
Girls Go Grape 
Stunning post, I could smell the wine and baguette 🥖 yum! I think you should name your minivan, Frankie! Have another amazing day. Love a d hugs ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️🙋
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Bonjour Christine, Mackenzie & David, Great to hear that you are all settling into your new home and neighbourhood. Crazy about that fighter plane! (note to editor, you forgot the e on plane) David sounds like he is in his glory with all the trails around.
Rosalind and I are good. I have been working for BC Hydro for nearly 4 years now and Roz is still surviving at the Vancouver Coastal Heath Authority. As Roz puts it, health care isn’t healthy. Lots of changes and reorg’s, but Roz still has her job. She has been there for 13 years now. It is sucking the soul out of her though.
We are hoping to go to Montreal and possibly Toronto for a visit with my step mom, step sisters and my brothers Michael and Bobby and their wives in September. My brothers live in Mississuaga and they will be driving to Montreal. One of my step sisters, Mary, will be coming in from Cornwall, Ontario. Kathy, my other step sister, lives in a suburb of Montreal. Roz and I may get a ride with my brothers back to Toronto, so we can visit my brothers and wives in Toronto. The last time Roz and I were there together was 2012.
We then would fly out of Toronto back to Vancouver.
Well, back to work for me.
Take care!
Rosalind, Dennis and Neva