Learning a language is a wonder and a frustration. It is a chance to push yourself to acquire what at times feels terribly out of reach. It is also a chance to learn another culture from the inside. Learning languages gifts the learner with the tremendous pleasure of connecting with people in their world, communicating in a fashion that allows them to be at ease, and so -- I feel -- true to themselves.

It is a challenge, there's no doubt. But what delight when the people you meet encourage you, praise you, and react with pleasure and appreciation at your efforts. That's what happens in the South. This is a region that has received thousands and thousands of tourists. Yet just a small minority speak French. The locals take note of the effort it requires to attempt to speak to their language. It is not necessarily expected, nor required of visitors, but, how it is appreciated! And that makes all the difference, n'est-ce pas?

It is with this in mind that I've been chatting with Christine Miconnet -- my collaborator for a number of years now in language classes -- about a new French language intensive program. We are bringing in a new element -- theater. Yes, we've a marvelous colleague who loves teaching French through putting on a play. As such, the structure of the classes would be one day theater, one day more classic grammar and treatment of the oodles of questions that came up during the theater class.

We will maintain the structure of accommodations plus breakfast and one other meal in the day, and seek to invite friends to join us for these meals. We'll have both programmed and optional visits to food artisans and neighboring cities.

The current format is the following: Base price for 14 nights' accommodations, breakfast and lunch (including one lunch at the beekeeper's), 30 hours instruction divided between classes and theatrical workshops: 2000Euros per person in double accommodations.
The optional excursions are:

• Provençale cooking classes: 100E/person per class
• Introduction to wine tasting at the winery: 50E/person
• An evening at the cinema (if a drive away, 20E/person, if nearby the price of the ticket).
• A hike in the Alpilles: 50E/person
• A bicycle ride to the bakery in Maillane, picnic in the fields: 50E/person
• Avignon outing: the Pope's Palace and dinner: 75E/person
• An excursion to the Lubéron hilltowns: 50E/person

At this time we are placing this program at the b&b in Arles. The dates are coincided for lower air fares. The bulk of the region's tourists will have departed, and you will be able to more easily interact with the locals.
Should the b&b sell between now and October, we will shift the program either to a hotel in Arles, or in St. Rémy de Provence. The price will not change from what is stated.

To sign up, please go to the web site and copy and paste the reservation form there into an email. Just type in French Cooking Intensive, Oct 25-Nov 8. Please indicate if you are signing up for the full program, or the base program plus a selection of the optional activities.

The program is designed for a maximum of 10 participants. It is small and intimate with a stress on personal attention to your current skill level.

Rudolf Steiner describes twelve senses. In this program, we'll delve into a selection of these, allowing each day to carry us in a different direction. With the collaboration of massage therapists, dancers, cooking and wine professionals, aromatherapists, yoga teachers, art teachers and music, we will re-awaken our senses.

The program will be rich in content, but simple in presentation. The Avignon Waldorf School will provide the sleeping accommodations (group dormitories -- comfortable and clean, simple and inexpensive), organic, vegetarian breakfast and lunch, and the facilities for dance, yoga and art classes.

• Taste: a morning outing to the market; a cooking class in regional specialties
• Touch: a morning working with clay sculpture; an afternoon massage
• Sight: a morning outing to the art museums of Avignon; an afternoon of painting
• Smell: a wine tasting excursion in the morning; introduction to essential oils and aromatherapy in the afternoon
• Hearing: a morning of song; an afternoon in the resonating chapels of the Abbaye de Montmajour
• Balance: a yoga class in the morning; eurythmy in the afternoon
• Movement: a morning hike in the countryside; an evening dance

The program is still in the early developing stages, but is designed to take place during spring break 2010. All instruction will be by individuals who can speak both English and French. A week long, it can be combined with further traveling in the region. For those who would like to participate in this program, but would prefer private and/or more elegant accommodations, this is possible as there is a very pleasant hotel not too far from the school.

Tentatively, the program as it is outlined above will come in under 1000E/person for the week. Please let me know your thoughts. What would tempt you in such a program? Do you have any suggestions? and, as for the other senses according to Steiner they are in no particular order: a sense of heat, a sense of self, a sense of the other, a sense of the horizon, and a sense of warmth emanating from others -- if I remember my lessons and reading correctly! Time for discussing these and more will be included.

I've been working on a proposal for a book aimed at youths and teens. It is a tour of Provençal artisans with interviews, descriptions of their vocations and choices, and at least 10 recipes per artisan. I've the proposal finished, as well as the chapters on the beekeeper and the cheesemaker. To follow are the chapters on the baker, the chocolatier, the olive oil miller, the chef and the pastry-maker.

I'm beginning to send out the proposal to some agents, but, this is not the best of times economically (of which we are all quite aware). If you've suggestions, contacts, recommendations or more, please let me know! All help is enthusiastically welcomed. Should you wish to do a bit of recipe testing... I will happily send you a chapter of the above in exchange for your feedback.

Meantime, I'm also keeping the blog updated. It jumps all over the place from recipes I feed my kids, to garden images, excursions to the Cévennes, problems (and joys) of raising my boys mostly alone, musings, and of course meetings with marvelous people and artisans. Since last I sent out the missive, I've put up posts on the hat maker, the potter, the horse-whisperer and much more. Please take a look.

Summer is a time of non-stop attention to the vines. This is the period of pre-veraison. The grapes are there, but still very green, no warm tones in sight. There is an explosion of foliage growth, both high and wide. For the vintner and his workers, a rhythmic balance has settled in to their days: scratching the earth to allow moisture to descend to the roots, ploughing to remove weeds encouraged by a recent storm, trimming and pruning branches and leaf coverage (though not too much, leaves after all are the means by which the rich light of the sun becomes nourishment to the growing fruit).

As always, the eye is attentive to the weather. Rain is not desirable now as it would encourage the development of mildew or even the non-noble rot (botrytus). Wind can spread oidium from leaf to leaf. For these the organic world permits the vintner to treat with copper and sulfur in limited quantities. The Ecocert agents (who grant or not the organic status of a vintner) come to check over paperwork and traceability, usage, and remaining stock of these chemicals, verifying that the vintner keeps to the rules. For instance, the copper is calculated on a five-year basis. This allows the vintner to use a bit more during moist years, and hold back during the dry.

A new roof is going up over the cellar, creating a bit of chaos down in Vauvert. Will this year's harvest be vinified in the family cellar or nearby at a colleague's? The question will be answered shortly.

Wine samples have gone off to Nova Scotia to potential importers there. Let's keep our fingers crossed that, 1. the wine gets safely to its destination, and, 2. it passes muster with the province's liquor board. And so things continue, seasonally, yearly, as they will.

I will rent my Avignon house this winter. It comes complete with its well-stocked kitchen, central heating and wood stove, three bedrooms and a funky wooden tub, and reading and listening material to please many.

Let me know if you're interested. The web site is noted below. The winter weeks are specially priced at 750E/week.

Our lovingly restored and decorated bed and breakfast in Arles is for sale. It would be an ideal small business for a couple, close to everything, well reviewed in numerous guide books, and full of possibilities.

The price is now at 260,000E all included (furniture, air conditioners, linens). I've put Erick's wonderful photographs on my blog homepage. (An American in Avignon)

I highly recommend that you already have basic renovation/house repair skills, combined with some marketing know-how (or willingness to learn). Being a good cook, super sociable and multi-lingual are also useful for such a business.