Cherie's Place

… A year in the Languedoc wine country

Synopsis (from the author’s website):
In Virgile’s Vineyard, Patrick Moon explores the world of Languedoc wine. Among the cast of characters that Patrick meets during his year of discovery is Virgile, a young local wine-maker who offers to initiate him into the mysteries of each seasons work in the [...]

The recent Google Doodle celebrating the 200th anniversary of the architect who renovated the walled city of Carcassonne brought back happy memories of my visit there in 2012.
From the Telegraph regarding the man and his anniversary:

Eugene Viollet-le-Duc, the architect known for his distinctive restoration work on medieval buildings, has been celebrated with a Google doodle.
The [...]

Photo copyright of TAG.

Some of you might recall that the boys take over my living room from time to time so that they can use the floor to play Napoleonic wargames. Before they even get to this point they exchange correspondence with the game umpire so that he knows where their figures are going [...]

Synopsis (from book cover):
Summer, 1942.  A spirited and courageous young woman, Sandrine, finds herself drawn into the world of the Resistance in Carcassonne under German Occupation.  Her network –  codenamed ‘Citadel’ – is made up of ordinary women who risk everything to fight the sinister battles raging in the shadows around them.  as the war reaches its [...]

One of the books I am currently reading is ‘The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars‘ by Stephen O’Shea.  At the beginning of the chapter on Carcassonne there is a perfect description of what I saw and how I felt when I caught my first fleeting glimpse of Carcassonne as I traveled from Toulouse [...]

Synopsis (from book cover):
After the taking of Jerusalem by crusaders in the year of grace 1099, pilgrims started to travel to Palestine in ever greater numbers to worship at the tomb of Christ, the Holy Sepulchre.  It was to ensure their protection that in 1119 – 1120, a knight from Champagne, Hugh de Payns, founded [...]

At the time I was compiling my countdown to Christmas post at Vision and Verb, I mentioned some of the reasons why Britain should be proud of events that took place there in 2012.
In that post I didn’t mention I thought that 2012, despite one or two memorable occasions (such as meeting Ginnie and Astrid [...]