Nouveauté

Latest release from our local cave coopérative : a white wine made entirely from the old and neglected variety Carignan blanc. Not much of that about. Tested, we liked it; a very slight hint of oak that is not overpowering.

Just back from the first face-to-face French book group since October. They've been doing it on Zoom, but I haven't felt enthused to join in; I decided to make an effort this month. Unfortunately the book was Jean-Paul Dubois' Tous les hommes n'habitent pas le monde de la même façon. I wasn't a massive fan of the previous book of his we read and I was not at all keen on this one. 

Of the ten of us, eight really liked it and only two were less than enthusiastic. It won the Goncourt for heaven's sake, France's most prestigious literary prize. This inevitably reminded me of an article in the New York Times about the cosy back-scratching world of French literary prizes. Jurors are appointed for life, vacancies are filled by vote of existing jurors, and many of them work for the publishing houses submitting books, and/or are related to shortlisted authors.

Anyway, after our discussion we assembled for beakers of blanquette and chocolate cake made by Sarah for her birthday. It was lovely to see everyone again. And back home, cheese and biscuits with the aforementioned Carignan.