psuper

As I begin this process to determine what that next career step for me might be, I decided to take advantage of my daughter having a final though brief academic term in London.  My wife and I will be joining her and her significant other for a week in Burgundy on a small two cabin barge to explore the Burgundy Canal.  This is one of 4 weeks Ligia and I will spend in France this May, a way to take time and sort through some thoughts and options about the next step, but also to aid in the transition process.

I am reminded of my first similar sabbatical I took in a somewhat similar situation 19 years ago.  It was the Autumn of 1992, and I had just left (hmmm, been kicked out?) my position as alumni director at CU Boulder.  I had recalled a breakfast with an alum who had just returned from working at a vineyard in the Bordeaux region…..Chateau Brandeau.  I gathered the contact information….and wrote a letter to Fearn and Andrea King, the vineyard owners (doesn’t that sound so quaint now…I wrote a letter).  A few months later after I flew the Atlantic and hopped a fast train to Bordeaux, followed by a local train, I was being picked up at the station by Peter King (Andrea’s father) in Castillon la-Bataille and being driven to the Chateau in time for dinner.

I then joined a number of others who were at the Chateau for the vendange or the harvest.  We worked sis days a week, picking and transporting grapes, then assisting in the making of the wine.  What an education!  What an experience.

One memory that is etched in my mind occurred at a Presidential Debate party in Bordeaux that I was invited to attend by an American ex-pat I knew through a mutual friend.  Yes, that is right, in Bordeaux France, there was a party with the video tapes of the American Presidential and Vice Presidential  debates for an almost entirely French audience.  My first astonishment was that they were truly interested in the debates and what the candidates had to say.  Could you imagine in your wildest dreams a group of Americans gathering on a Saturday evening to watch tapes of the French Presidential debates!?

So, yes, I was taken aback but looked forward to the evening and being one of two Americans in the crowd, feeling pretty good that I might be called upon for a few observations or comments on the debates or campaigns underway.  But if you recall the Autumn of 1992 campaigns, you might then have an idea of how that smug feeling began to fall away.  First, in the vice presidential debate we had three candidates….Al Gore, Dan Quayle, and James Stockdale, who famously opened up his introductory comments with “Who am I and what am I doing here?”

And, after suffering through that debate, we had Bill Clinton, George Bush, and Ross Perot.  Clinton and Bush were as good as ever with their comments and styles but Perot?  “Can you hear that giant sucking sound?”

It was not American politics at their best.  Needless to say, I was feeling a bit humbled and truthfully embarrassed that I was witnessing deep political interest by the French, and  knew our American provincialism is unmatched the world over.

Now, I am looking forward to returning to Chateau Brandeau for a visit next month.  Peter has passed away but Andrea and Fearn are still making very good Bordeaux wine from the Cotes de Castillon region. which is just east of St. Emilon.  Another step during this transition.