It has been a long hot summer with a few heatwaves and not enough rain. Many days of lovely blue skies and very brown lawns. There has been a lot in the news on forest fires and climate change, all food for thought and of concern.
There has been lots of activity in the village in the run up to vendange. In the mornings, the tractors roar past early – as they have been doing for the past months. At the height of the heatwaves, there were tractors working in the vineyard in front of our bedroom windows from 4.30-5.00am in the morning – using the rest of the moonlight and the starlight, plus their headlamps to see! Obviously much more pleasant working in the cool of the morning before the sun rises…..
We (David and I) have also had some nice walks to our cabotte in Gevrey.
As always, I have been going to my favourite place in Dijon, Les Halles. This summer, I found some delicious Bouchées de la Reine, which is a delicate puff pastry stuffed with diced sweetbreads in a cream and mushroom sauce. So named because Queen Marie Leczynska, the wife of King Louis XV, loved this dish.
The delicious Bouchée de la Reine from an excellent traiteur in the Dijon market! 
My other favourite place in Dijon, the Musée de Beaux Arts, also had a special exhibition on fashion in the 18th century – lots of elegant people in stylish clothes, including the very beautiful Madame Récamier, below.
Now we are in the last few days of August, and the holiday atmosphere of the summer is fading, replaced by action in the run up to harvest – supposed to start next week in the côte des Nuits, it has already begun on the côte de Beaune, as well as the return to school.
More on the vendanges to come….from PM Hall-Jones
