Wine Tasting

Lots has happened this week - most of which I can't tell you about because it hasn't and won't come to fruition for a long time yet and now is not the time to talk about it. All very exciting though and all filling our heads on an hourly basis. Oh - what a tease!

A group of four new guests arrived from Australia on Wednesday. Two of them stayed here last year with their children, so it was great to welcome them back - especially as they have come all the way from Adelaide.

One of the reasons they are here is a brother who works in the wine trade here in the Languedoc. They have also invited friends from the UK to visit at the same time - so it was that I hosted a wine tasting for seven last night and will host a dinner for seven tomorrow night.

It's fine to host a wine tasting with guests who have no idea what you are talking about and believe every word you say - it's slightly more intimidating when there is a wine professional involved too. I don't claim to be a Master of Wine or any sort of guru on the subject but I do know a fair bit after years of extensive personal research at the expense, no doubt, of the health of my liver. So I was mildly relieved and greatly reassured of my knowledge when it turned out that I was as well informed about this great region's wines as my wine making friend was - it just goes to show that nobody can ever know everything about wine - ever.

The wines that took my wine making friend by surprise were a Sauvignon Blanc from Rieux-Minervois and a late harvest sweet wine made by an English winemaker, also in the Minervois.

This whole vast region is known predominately for it's red wine - from Minervois to Corbieres to Fitou to St Chinian to Faugeres. Yet, it is the white wines that I taste that most astound me with their quality.

The reds all seem to be made to a pattern or formula that you expect and there are plenty of them so differentiating between them is more difficult - don't get me wrong, there are some delicious exceptional reds here and the average bottle is both extremely affordable and very drinkable.

The whites take me by surprise though - because I don't expect the quality and finesse that I constantly find - maybe I should stop being surprised.

Last night we had a Sauvignon Blanc from Domaine Saint Francois that was delicious in every respect - floral, aromatic bouquet and a mouth full of fresh peachy, apricoty flavours and just a hint of the oak barrels it had been in for 12 months. It was sublime in every respect and a total bonus as I had just picked it up that day in trying to find something different. The Aussies thought it had to be a Chardonnay but they were wrong and the winemaker vowed to visit the domaine as soon as possible.

The last wine we tasted was a sweet wine - Late Harvest from Domaine La Bouscade. The whole process of making a late harvest wine is an act of faith and as much of a gamble as buying a lottery ticket - the odds really are that bad that the right weather conditions will occur at the right time and the grapes will react in the right way. I think that running a holiday business is a gamble - winemakers make me look positively conservative.

Needless to say, everybody adored the wine and the winemaker actually clapped his hands in appreciation of a top class well-made product. He knows what's involved. My compliments to David and Jo Cowderoy out in Puicheric for turning out the best dessert wine I have ever tasted.

It's a job - but it's a good job.

Local trouble

I received a letter yesterday, by registered post, from M Sire, the owner of the vacant space on the ground floor where I temporarily dumped a load a debris during my renovation, demanding that I relocate the water supply to my apartments.

My water supply runs through this space of his and not in a particularly well thought out way - but then so does everybody elses water supply and indeed electricity supply too. As far as I can see they were all installed at the same time and all well before I bought my apartments.

I had a chat with Bridgitte about it and asked her opinion - she phoned the notaire that had handled my sale and was pointed in the direction of the rules and regulations governing the building which is now in her hands as Madame La Presidente. It turns out that all pipework not inside the proprietors own flat is the responsibility of the managing agents, i.e us as proprietors jointly.

That is good news - M Sire is the only proprietor that owes money and he now has to face all the owners rather than just try to bully me separately. It will be interesting to see if he turns up at the next meeting, which is imminent, to pursue his case.

I'd actually be very happy to see the pipe re-sited because M Sire has stated his intention to sell - mind you he wants €20,000 for an uninhabitable space with no bathroom or kitchen - he is clearly bonkers. Bridgitte referred to him as 'con', which my dictionary translates as bloody stupid but I am sure that it must have a much more colourful translation from the way that the phrase was delivered - I can certainly think of plenty of different words to use .

So the matter will go on the next agenda and Bridgitte will draft a reply to him and we will see what happens after that.

In the meantime, my Irish guests left to be replaced by London Aussies on a two day break without their kids - which means that I am all Aussied out in both suites - cripes mate. The new guests apparently hitch-hiked through here some 15 years ago and have vague memories of it all - isn't that sweet.

I have a bit of a weekend from hell actually - after a room change today and then another tomorrow, I have a double changeover on Sunday - which means a lot of cleaning, washing, ironing and airport drop-offs and pick-ups - not to mention dinner on Saturday evening. I don't normally accept one night bookings, but with Debrah in London this weekend on account of an early Monday departure on a photo-shoot trip to Turkey, and a dinner to do on Saturday night for the Aussies, I figured that I may as well fill the vacant night.

It should keep me out of trouble anyway.

Next steps

Both sets of guests wanted late breakfasts, which is both a good thing and a bad thing at the same time - good because I don't need to set an alarm after a dinner and subsequent late night/early morning clearing up but bad because with a late breakfast the morning is virtually over by the time it is all done and I always feel as if half the day has been wasted by the time I get round to anything else.

It made a nice change not having to take Debrah to the airport today - instead she was beavering away on her computer all day doing work for London from here - it would be fabulous if she could arrange to do that more often.

Having said that, I'm not sure that Debrah agrees - she adores our French home but she's not thrilled about it containing clients and frequently declines to meet them, she hates any sort of noise from outside to the point where it makes her so angry that it impacts on us and she is not yet ready to give up London - we have a problem that we need to resolve and I'm not sure what the answer is.

It's all about the next steps really - the business here has gone better than we could have imagined and we have both been caught out by that in different ways - do we move it on to the next stage by capitalising on the first year's success or is it not what we expected, or indeed, wanted - the truth, probably, lies somewhere in the middle of all that and I have no doubt that we are not unique in having to face up to this sort of success issue.

We did have a very entertaining dinner last night. We both agreed that we very much enjoyed Steve's witty and entertaining company - he's a true Aussie it must be said, but a top bloke nonetheless! He was 50 years old on Saturday and we took a call from his mother-in-law trying to wish him happy birthday. There was initial confusion when Debrah answered the phone and they were asking for Debbie, Steve's wife, but eventually all became clear and the 'death adder', as she is affectionately known, left a message to be passed on.

Steve and Debbie left late morning and Daniel and Katy (who got married last Saturday - aahh!) arrived on the afternoon flight from Stansted, and, like all arrivals from England or Ireland this year, they were thrilled to see the sun and drive home from the airport with the roof down on the Audi.

Everybody loves the Audi - it's as much a part of 42rvh as I am.

Epilation?

My new Australian guests continued to test me this morning, with a barrage of questions about the internet connection, the post office, a lighter duvet, borrowing the iron and ironing board and a physiotherapist at short notice because the daughter had injured her shoulder getting their bags out of the car.

All of which I solved for them - even the physio, appointment tomorrow at 2pm - but they did rather put me behind schedule for the day such that it was almost lunchtime when I had finished at the market and I hadn't even had breakfast - poor me!

After the fabulous sunshine of yesterday, I awoke to a very dull and grey sky - I say awoke but awakened would be a better description - nobody was allowed to sleep in as the starling frightener was launching his rockets all over town from about 7.00am onwards - he should charge extra for the by-product of getting all the kids to school on time and everyone to work.

We had the briefest of showers this morning, which seemed to deposit more sand than it did water! Afterwards, my lovely shiny Audi, which I washed just last week, couldn't have looked more grubby if I had driven it through a mud swamp, which just proves that car washing is a pointless exercise in preening.

Later in the day I spent some painful time trying to translate the tariff and list of services available from the beauty salon on the ground floor of the building. We want to include, on our website, the option of booking beauty treatments - all well and good. However, being a down to earth man, I don't understand what goes on in beauty salons even when it is described in English so I had no chance of translating it from the French into any meaningful list of treatments - it's all double dutch to me in either language.

I shall send my strange list to Debrah who will no doubt tell me what is what and I will be none the wiser - although the list of 'epilation' (hair removal) techniques and body parts is a bit scary.

Not venturing out today

It's been one of those days when I haven't actually been outside, which always leaves me feeling a bit stir crazy - pacing about the apartment and, as the day goes on, looking for an excuse to venture out. In fact I can always think of reasons to venture out but always decide that there is something else I should be doing here that is more important - which is very annoying - where did this responsibility towards business and clients come from?

I didn't venture out to the boulangerie this morning because my Aussie guests hadn't touched the viennoiserie the day before and I thought I would just give them some toast alongside the fruit. They were very happy with my choice and ate the lot.

They departed fairly early - I hadn't even had time to have a cup of coffee and a bit of breakfast myself before they rang the doorbell and handed back the key - which left me in a dilemma about finishing breakfast or getting in their room and starting to change it over - I left my breakfast and got to it.

I needed to get on with it because new guests were arriving later in the day but their arrival time was a bit vague - so room ready asap was the order of the day. It was all done by midday and a bit and so I had time to check my emails and send some answers and think about the ironing pile.

I didn't venture out for lunch to the square, despite an offer from Chris and Patrick, because I thought I should hang around for new guests and use up food that I had at home. So I put some spaghetti on to boil and cut up some tomatoes and got some oil and basil and parmesan and anchovies and salt and pepper and tossed it all together and put it in a a bowl, with the weekend's FT ready for some catching up on articles that Debrah said I should read. I was just about to sit myself down when the doorbell went.

My new guests had arrived by car from Nimes - they are London types working in local government and marketing - and my lunch was cold by the time I had showed them around and had a chat and answered their immediate questions - c'est la vie.

I ate my lunch anyway and then set about the ironing mountain, which took me through to the end of the afternoon - back aching - still more to do - but a job well done nonetheless. The guests told me they were going out for a drive and asked if it would be OK to have canapes and drinks at 7.30 - of course.

I thought about venturing out before client duties but it suddenly looked very stormy and I talked myself out of it. So I made some lists - shopping list for dinner tomorrow night and shopping list for my dad's 80th birthday weekend coming up and seeing my girls for the first time in far too long.

My client said that his parents owned a house in Condom and then, that I was the first person that hadn't laughed out loud when told or made a smutty remark. Is everybody really that childish? Yes they are - but I stifled my stupid snigger, thank god.

They eventually went to eat. at my restaurant recommendation, and left me to my evening. I thought about venturing out - but to be honest, by now, I couldn't be arsed.

So here I am, still at home - everything is sorted and under control - life is good.

Is it rubbish or not?

Frustratingly, I seem to find less and less time to sit here in front of my computer and relate my experiences to all and sundry. On the one hand it means that I am busier with clients and the business and on the other it means that I am getting less time to reflect and take it all in - as ever in life, a balance between conflicting pressures is the best course for sanity and peace of mind - so finding the balance is key.

After our fairly relaxed last week, we were a full house again for the weekend - a lovely couple from the north-east of England celebrating their 10th anniversary and a lovely couple of boys from London celebrating nothing at all - or just perhaps that these days they are now free to tour Europe without issue - good for them. Small world that it is, one of the London boys came originally from a small town in the north east just down the road from where the other couple lived - don't you just love co-incidences?

Debrah had her head down all weekend re-designing our website - and also had a loose tooth - which I can assure you isn't a good thing. The last time Debrah had a tooth problem was 15 years ago on our first ever holiday abroad together - a very large painkilling injection in her arse got her home and a general anaesthetic finally sorted out the tooth - much trauma - lots of stress - not looking forward to dealing with that again but sort it we must because it won't go away unless we do - there is, after all, only so much head in the sand you can do.

On Sunday morning we managed to get a little bit of relaxation - well, of a sort - we went to a brocante (car boot sale) at a local village called Cavanac. I actually find these things quite stressful, whereas Debrah finds them quite fun and relaxing. I think I find it a bit embarrassing looking interested at somebody's complete and utter shit, that they are trying to pass onto you for some ridiculous price - with a straight face - no I'm not joking - it's a 1980's original. I'm thinking - it's a video! - no-one in the new century owns a video player.

Despite all that we came home with an armful of somebody else's shit - a music stand and two portfolios of music sheets, a old and rather faded and broken military map of the Languedoc Roussillon region, a table lamp and a box of old curtain fittings and rings.

The table lamp is actually in use on the office desk right now and is casting a fabulous light on my workspace, so I am very grateful for it. I had to buy a new plug for it but having wired it up and plugged it in, I was totally surprised to find that the bulb, that was in the lamp when we bought it, actually worked. He missed a trick there - could have charged us extra for a working light bulb.

It was all change yesterday with both sets of clients leaving and Debrah going back to London and new clients from Australia via the UK - I, and my faithful Audi, made four separate trips to the airport, which I believe is a record for one day.

The Aussies had dinner this evening - just the two of them and me - and a very stimulating and interesting conversation it was - I am very happy when clients are clearly having a lovely time, not just here, but in Carcassonne as a whole because it is a great place to visit.

So to tomorrow - Aussies out and new clients in - the cycle continues.

New Arrivals

My first Australian guests arrived yesterday afternoon. A lovely couple on a trip to the UK for a family wedding and getting in a bit of France whilst they are over here from the other side of the world.

It turned out that they had spent two nights already at the Hotel de la Cité - so I wondered what they would make of it slumming down here in the old town without 24 hour room service and all the other five star luxuries.

I got off to a bad start - I wasn't sure what time they were going to arrive and risked a late afternoon trip to Tridome for building supplies for Chris - but they turned up bang on 4.30pm (when we say rooms will be ready for check-in) and I kept them waiting for half an hour as a result. I have never felt so embarrassed.

So it was straight into over-servicing mode and I hope that after canapes and a restaurant recommendation last night and map lending and day trip planning this morning and dinner this evening, I have rescued the bad start. We had a very enjoyable dinner and conversation this evening and they ate everything put in front of them, which is always a good sign - so fingers crossed. Tomorrow I am sending them off on a wine tasting tour of the Cabardes and Minervois.

In the meantime, Christian arrived from England. He is here for a week initially, in the middle of his exams, and will then come back for a month after he has finished them for a bit of Languedoc therapy - sun, slower pace, a bit of manual labour for me and for Chris and a change of air from London life - after which I hope we and he will know where his next steps will lead.

I introduced him gently with a steak lunch in the square - like we need an excuse - and then he was straight into help mode with me on a supermarket re-stocking run and then rubbish removal for Chris upstairs. He did revert to type by asking me if I needed any help with dinner at the exact moment that I had finished two hours prep and just sat down for a moment - well, you can't expect the world on day one - it was a good start and it's good to have him here with us.

I just need to keep him away from a 'Men Behaving Badly' Chris and Patrick night out for a couple of weeks, at least until we've had time to work on him a bit!