Here's To The Hodgepodge

Welcome to another week in the Wednesday Hodgepodge, the last one in the month of May. If you've answered today's questions add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Comments make the maypole go round! 

1. It's National Wine Day (May 25)...do you like wine? Red or white? Dry or sweet? Do you have a favorite? Have you ever been to California wine country? Or any other wine region? What's a dish you make that calls for wine? 

I do like wine, both red and white (rose too) and especially champagne. I like dry wine, never sweet. Champagne is my favorite but if I'm having white I'll opt for a sauvignon blanc and a red zin if we're having red. I have been to Napa, visited some of Portugal's wine area, and the champagne region of France. That was one of my favorite trips ever...the food, the countryside, the history, the friends we traveled with, and of course the champagne. I wrote about it way back when and you can read those posts here and here. 

I make a chicken dish that calls for wine, capers, artichokes and roasted red peppers and it's yummy.

2. What's something you've whined about lately? 

I know I sound like a broken record but the pollen has taken on a life of its own this year. 

3. Last time you were 'wined and dined'? Tell us about it. 

I feel like I'm wined and dined fairly often as that's something we both enjoy. Hubs and I went with some neighbors a few weeks ago to a lovely seven course dinner and wine pairing in a nearby restaurant. Every single course was delicious and the whole event made for a wonderful fun night out.  

4. Three cheers for_____________________.

Grandboys! 

The ones we know and the one we cannot wait to meet soon!

5. This will be the last Hodgepodge in the month of May. Somehow next Wednesday the calendar rolls into June. Before we go though, sum up your May in twelve words or less. 

Family fun, baby talk, celebrations, road trippin, and a whole lotta love. 

6. Insert your own random thought here. 

Land of the free, because of the brave...

Thankful this Memorial Day and every day for the men and women who gave their very lives for this land I love. May we honor their memory with our words and actions. 

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Wild America

I don't know why my husband and I were worried about how to 'encourage' the three or more groundhogs currently residing in our rock wall to find a new home. Silly us. We completely forgot about that whole Circle of Life thing.


Yesterday we spent the afternoon waiting waiting waiting at the house for the TV install. They give you a four hour window and of course they arrive at hour 3.59. And technically the TV is not completely installed yet but that would be a whole 'nother post. We did manage to make good use of our time though ...my husband cleaned the hardwood floors and scoured the grill that has been in storage. And I spent most of the day shredding old office paperwork and washing dishes. I didn't even mind though because I haven't seen my china and crystal in six years and I was happy to discover that I love them every bit as much today as I did when I got married 25 years ago.

And if you're still reading you may be wondering what this has to do with groundhogs? Well... I was happily washing china when my husband called out those dreaded words, " Come quick and look at this!" I think you know what that means....we stood in our sunroom and watched as a very small fox methodically went into the groundhog hole and came out with a groundhog...in his mouth. He kindly laid it on a rock for all the world to see and then (and I'm not making this up) he looked us straight in the eye. It was kind of like one of those staring contests I used to have with my sister when we were kids. I think I know why they call them sly. And cunning. And I'd love to post a picture but have I mentioned that I'm living in a hotel? STILL?

We had many a fox in our garden in England but they somehow seemed tame. In fact one year a fox made a little nest and had its babies in my side yard. So cute. But this one...not so much. He was more like the creepy fox who led Pinocchio astray. He left the groundhog on the rock until we finally moved away from the window. I was worried he was going to leave it there permanently but my husband said there was no way the fox wouldn't come back for his dinner. Sure enough, as soon as we walked away from the window he scooped it up and ran off into the woods.

And you were worried I wouldn't have anything to write about here. What I really can't believe is that a month ago I was chatting about French champagne. Today it's a dead groundhog and a sly fox. No worries though...I'm rollin' with the changes.

viva la France

Okay….back to France…Saturday morning we were greeted by our mini bus driver and Laurent who gave us a ‘to go’ bag of warm croissants (naturally) for the ride and then we were off to tour some of the champagne houses in the region. Let me just tell you that when you see the cellars of even one house you realize pretty quickly that a whole lot of champagne is consumed around the world. We visited just three houses and the number of bottles is staggering.

Our first stop was Moet and Chandon which is also home to Dom Perignon. Perignon was a Benedictine monk who was cellar master of the Abbey at Hautvillers near Epernay, a role in which he apparently excelled. The abbey doubled its vineyard holdings under his management and he is buried in a section of the Abbey normally reserved for abbots.

The tour began with a short film and then we headed into the wine cellars with our guide who explained the process as we walked. When they talk about wine cellars here they are talking about caves. There are literally miles of caves and thousands of bottles tucked into every nook and cranny.

The champagne houses have precise procedures they follow to ensure quality…bottles are hand turned or ‘riddled’ by someone whose job title is actually ‘The Riddler’. There may have been a Batman joke or two at this point in our tour. And we’re sure the riddler must have some serious carpal tunnel.

After leaving Moet we went on to a small house known as LeBrun where we sat in what felt like a family room and tasted three varieties of their champagne before driving into Reims for lunch. The cathedral in Reims is a World Heritage Site with stained glass windows designed by Chagall.

We had lunch and a stroll around town before heading to the final champagne house of the tour, Tattinger, which we all pronounced as spelled but were told it should actually be pronounced ‘tatt-en-zhay’. The cellars here are positively amazing. The oldest parts of the chalk caves were first excavated by Gothic slaves under Roman occupation in the fourth century. A few centuries later the caves were enlarged by the Abbey monks who used them to store the champagne they traded. The Abbey was destroyed during the French revolution but portions remain, including a bit of the chapel and some interesting staircases. The monks actually carved stairs into the ceiling so when they came down at night (oh yeah, no electricity) they could put their hands up and feel the steps to know where to put their feet. Those monks were pretty industrious and pretty clever too!

As an aside, whenever I think of monks (which isn't actually all that often) I remember a postcard Daughter2 sent to her friend back in the states from a trip to France we took shortly after arriving in the UK...it was blustery and after visiting an abbey her postcard said this. 'Hi...it's really cold here. We saw monks. Love, M.' She's too cute. I miss my girls. Sigh.

Where was I? Oh yes, back to now...after Tattinger we returned to the inn because it had been at least four hours since we'd had any bread and cheese. We really enjoyed getting to know our hotelier Laurent. He had quite a sense of humor and told some great stories. I especially loved it when he told us about the 'crazy' boulanger (baker) in town and added. 'I like crazy though...how could we laugh if there wasn't any crazy.' And he said it in his charming French accent all while wearing a tres fashionable scarf.

On Sunday we drove slightly under an hour out into the beautiful French countryside to visit just your typical French chateau…Vaux Le Vicomte.

The chateau is located in Maincy and was built from 1658-1661 for Nicolas Fouquet who was court financier to Louis XIVth. Fouquet only lived in this magnificent home for three weeks before he was arrested. Seems King Louie didn’t appreciate an underling having a grander home than the king and found a reason to have him imprisoned for the remainder of his life. Not saying he was a choir boy but many of the charges were made up and the punishment was more for daring to build a home better than the king’s. In fact, Louie took the architect, landscaper, and painter who worked together on Vaux Le Vicomte and moved them over to Paris to create his home in Versailles.

Vaux Le Vicomte’s biggest claim to fame though has to be its gardens. The landscape artist trained as an architect and this is apparent in the terraces, fountains and lakes around the chateau. You can rent a golf cart type vehicle to tour the 60+acre property but we just took a nice long walk which was a lovely way to end our weekend in France.

Sunday we were back on the chunnel train for the ride home to England. Hubs drove so I could snooze and pretend we weren’t approximately 328 feet under the English Channel.

And the moving company is coming today to survey our goods and see if they will all fit in our allotted sea and air shipment and I’m pretty sure it will stress me out and I may just decide to think about the French countryside instead.