Not even Marie, my sister-in-law, nor Christian, my brother, had ever been there before. It’s not a run of the mill place at all. But if you are, even mildly, interested in seeing “living” sculpture, make sure you go there when you are next in the Poitou-Charentes area! You will not regret it.

An ancient quarry

It’s quite small for a quarry, really. You will need to keep on the look out, so you don’t miss the entrance.

There is also another site nearby, devoted to the history of quarrying which is very interesting and informative about stone quarrying, but not in a boring way. It’s also children friendly and some sculptors are currently working there too.

Les Lapidiales used to be a quarry but has now become a kind of open-air museum for contemporary sculptors from around the world. It’s a very relaxed place, with no entry fee, and you can watch artists chipping away and talk to them.

The scupltures

I loved the mixture of styles and felt (I know nothing much about sculpture) there were lots of influences at play there (medieval, South American, Easter Island, surrealist, etc.) but I’d love to hear / read what you think when you have watched the video.

The video

https://youtu.be/yX4K6uHlAoA

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I took masses of pictures but only selected a few for this video which I hope you will enjoy.

I also hope this will motivate you to enrol on one of our French classes at the Modern Langauge School to make the most of your French holidays.

🙂

https://youtu.be/JkTzuR_bZ9g

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WHITES

The evening’s 3 white wines were Picpoul de Pinet, Viognier and Marsanne, three very different styles, so the group were divided on which was their favourite.

The whites were accompanied by crisps, crudities and dips, quiche, cheese straws (including some delicious home-made ones from Jane) and olives.

REDS

The French class bell, a hand held golden bell which often brings French classes back to order, came into use regularly as we moved on to the 3 red wines, Costières de Nîmes, Carrigan and Saint-Chinian-Roquebrun.

All the wines were bought from Majectic Wines and most of the food from Sainsbury’s. Some participants had brought food, such as breadsticks, crisps, etc. To accompany the red wines, we had pavé (a peppery French salami), Ardennes pâté, garlic sausage, vegetarian pâté, camembert, grapes and goat’s cheese.

The evening’s end, as ever, came sooner than expected and everyone, even the people who were not tasting wine, had a happy grin and rosy cheeks.

THE TEAM

For me, a big plus of the evening was for French students to meet the whole French team at the Modern Language School: Nina has been teaching with us for 3 years now and Gwen will be joining us in September. Both of them are fully qualified, experienced teachers, with the added bonus of being friendly and charming.

Nina and Gwen helped me pour out the wine, while Matt, my lovely partner, served the food. So all our students had to do was sit back and enjoy the experience.

INFO

If you wish to access Friday’s wine tasting document (wine tasting tips, regional description, links to relevant videos, wine descriptions and tasting notes) please email me at french@modernlanguageschool.co.uk .

A votre santé!

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On the menu  

• Picpoul de Pinet – Villemarin, Cave Ormarine
• Viognier – Marquis de Pennautier
• Marsanne – Domaines Paul Mas
• Costières de Nîmes – Château Guiot
• Carignan – Alain Grignon
• Saint-Chinian-Roquebrun – La Grange des Combes

There will also be some amuse-bouches but feel free to bring any food delicacy you would like to share at the event.

This French wine tasting is by invitation only and places must be reserved with Dom in advance (currently 2 places left).

As a preview, here is a simple description of the process of wine tasting:

1. look at the “robe” and legs (the colour and how it clings to the glass)
2. Take the first nose (take a first smell of the wine)
3. oxygenate it (gently swirl your wine in the glass anticlockwise)
4. Take the second nose (take a second smell of the wine – you’ll be surprised at how it has developed)
5. Take a tiny sip and, without swallowing, breathe in through your mouth
6. Swill that sip through your mouth (a bit like mouthwash)
7. Swallow (or spit out)
8. Breathe and feel

Though in my experience, by wine number 4 nobody seems to follow the order so strictly…

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For example, on Wednesday morning, the members of the French class were presenting some works by Jean Cocteau and it was a feast of discovery.

Did you know that Jean Cocteau did not just direct and script amazing films, write novels and plays, but he was also a ceramicist, an artist, a designer and a ballet scripter (not sure what the correct English is for this)?

He painted the mural of a French church in London, in Leicester Square. Did you know there was a French church in London?

Have a look: http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/biblianazar/revelacion_templarios/revelacion_templarios02aux.htm

He was part of the creators of the ballet “Parade” with Picasso, Satie, etc. An unusual 30 minutes ballet.

Check it out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YejpJ4kMH_0&app=desktop

Someone in the class gave us a fantastic quote too:

“Le verbe aimer est difficile à conjuguer : son passé n’est pas simple, son présent n’est qu’indicatif, et son futur est toujours conditionnel.”

Thank you to all the Wednesday morning-ers for an instructive and pleasurable 2 hours!

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