Long Weekend

I am back in Carcassonne after my weekend of family fun! Everybody just about held it all together but I am thinking only just - I did call one of my sisters-in-law a 'bitch' at one point, but I was leaving the room and maybe it was out of her earshot (although Debrah assures me it probably wasn't - oh well) - I really don't think she's a very nice person so I am not that bothered about it.

I feel a bit sorry for my other sister-in-law because she recognises how hard it is to please my mother and what a strong 'matriarchal' influence she imposes and because she really has tried very hard to fit into our difficult family. On the first afternoon she was very jolly and chatty and out to enjoy the weekend, but she gradually seemed to retreat into her shell, as I guess we all did under the withering glare, which was a shame.

Debrah wasn't exempt and was extremely upset by some of my mothers unnecessary comments about clothes or hair or behaviour. Debrah was brilliant this weekend and I couldn't have done it myself without her and without the girls. We stuck together as a little support team for each other. It would have been ideal to have have been just the four of us away - or five, if we could have got Christian involved too.

It was so good to see my daughters again - it has been too long - and I am so proud of them and the lovely young ladies that they have grown up to be. Amy is just about to start her final year at Lancaster and Isabel is just going off to find herself at Leicester - good luck to you both and hopefully we will see each other again sooner rather than later.

The part played by Anna and Aib, our hosts for the weekend, should not be under-estimated in the slightest. I would go as far as to say that without them the weekend would have been a disaster - I can't wait to see you both again in more relaxed circumstances, which we will do soon as it is Anna's birthday in a few weeks time.

A highlight of the weekend was the wine tasting given by Alex Hall on Saturday evening before dinner. We tasted six wines in total, with mixed results on my part when it came to recognising what I was tasting - the more I learn, and I learned a lot on Saturday, the less I seem to know! It was, though, a great privilege to be afforded the chance to taste a young 2005 St Emilion, which will age wonderfully and comes from one of the best vintages ever, apparently, and an 18 year old St Estephe, from another great vintage in 1990, that would set you back £300 in a restaurant today. Both were fabulous.

It is wine harvest time and that means that the Autumn is on it's way. We awoke this morning in the Dordogne to a heavy dew and mist in the valley but the prospect of a gloriously hot clear blue sky day - mellow fruitfulness indeed. Also, perfect conditions for the development of noble rot on grapes and the wonderful transformation into a golden nectar late harvest dessert wine - I told you I had learned a thing or two recently.

Back here in Carcassonne, the mobile 'fauconnier' introduced last year is already patrolling the streets - another sign that Autumn is upon us - the poor starlings are being scared away before we have any chance to see a display from them - what a shame.

My new guests have arrived - a mother and daughter from Australia. They dropped a couple of surprises on me - not forwarded on by the travel agent in Australia that made the booking. Luckily I am not phased by the late arriving information of no wheat or seafood or peppers in their diet, and not just because of dislike but because they are allergic. I will cope thanks to the wonderful array of produce available here in the fantastically fertile Aude valley and because at 42rvh we can cope with anything.

Even family.