It’s quite unusual in Cognac region  to have such low températures withing the day :  -7°C or -9°C. I presume that the scandinavian and canadian friends of the blog will just  smile and think that it’s out of mind to say it’s cold, but for us, it is ! A white coat on the roofs and landscapes till noon, is quite exceptionnal. To be trendy, I putted on my white confortable coat.

Courageous rose in the garden…

 

Not a reason for my friends winegrowers, to stop working in vines. Pruning is a winter activity, by any weather, rain, cold, windy… They are tough guys… and girls so. Hat, bonnet, gloves, parkas, wind-jackets, coffee in the cars, are essential.

Our small nice villages of cognac region seem to be asleep. Nobody in the streets of Trois Palis, even no dog or cat…

 

 

It was time to come back home near the fireplace. Surprise someone was already at the best place…

 

Philo, you’re exaggerating a little bit,  isn’it ?

What we do at the end of the week

As we are in low season, it’s for us the best moment to visit the nice exhibitions and natural sites just opened in our region called Nouvelle Aquitaine.

Lascaux IV : an awesome place, in Périgord or when up-to-date technologies  meet first painting  masterpieces.

The original cave of Lascaux,  a UNESCO world heritage site since 1979, is one of the most famous upper-paleolithic art in the world. Discovered in 1940, the cave is closed since many years to protect it. The new replica, called Lascaux 4 just opened  last december, is quite stunning !

900m2 of decorated walls have been produced by a french company called AFSP: a scientific, technological and artistic challenge realized by teams of highly skilled sculptural artists and specialist technicians. in less than 30 months.

Discovering  the replica in the almost complete darkness is as same as  if you were  in the true cave. The precision of the drawings, the colors, even the erosion of the rock are  reproduced in the finest details.

When you leave the replica, you can examine more in detail and at your time, the same drawings in the “atelier de Lascaux” helped by your digital device which give you more informations and more videos.

In fact, you can spend a lot of hours in this magic place. For thoses of you  too far from here, the exhibition Lascaux III travels around the world and is presently  in Japan. More than 200 000 visitors saw it in this country. To know more about click here

 

The international Cité du Vin , opened in Bordeaux last july, is a unique place devoted to the cultures of wine in  the world, and much  more than a museum. First the  architectural design is very impressive for its shape and audacious curves, as well as its ever-changing reflections depending on the moment of the day, or the sky luminosity.

There is no permanent collection, but a self-guided tour punctuated by 20 themed spaces explaining the culture of wine in an immersive, sensorial setting, helped by our  travelling-companion.

In the world wine tour, here in Mendoza Argentina

 

Scent and aroma workshop.

 

The end of the tour leads us up to the belvedere for a tasting of worldwide wines.

The ceiling is just amazing !

I deeeply recommend the 7 th floor restaurant to enjoy a gastronomic break with a nice view on Garonne and bridge “Chaban Delmas”, name of a famous former mayor of Bordeaux and national politic personnality.

We appreciated a white wine from Vallée de Cafayate “San Pedro de Yacochuya” from Argentina, a good food pairing with the fish.

We need more than 3 hours as it’s said in the website.

Business week

Meeting in Rochefort. Even if the weather is not fine, I always take few minutes to walk along the “Corderie Royale”. This day was particularly cold with a tough north wind.  Anyway, I wanted to say hello to the l’Hermione Ship. Visits are closed till mid february.

 

 

To make a balance with the fresh températures, I decided to go for the blog to “Tonnellerie de Jarnac” and the “bousinage” workshop :  the kingdom of fire and wood and a fascinating moment. More about it here. 

 

Angoulême International Comics Festival

And last january a famous event takes place in Angoulême, the international comics festival, an extraordinary moment in the city. Exhibitions are also in the streets like “Gaston Lagaffe” in front of the townhall.

 

 

Some highligths of the events : conférences, exhibitions, book signing,…

Left down picture : what we see when you are VIP behind the wall of photographs !

And finally, the place to be is the Awards ceremony in theater.

I have choosen this picture as it is not so frequent, a stage with a majority of women !  “Prix de la Révélation” for the Young corean artist Ancco for “mauvaises filles” (bad girls)

 

A very busy month with awesome discoveries during resting time. Don’t forget that around the clock, distilleries are on till end of march.