Cours d’oenologie

	DOROTHY: Oh, will you help me? Can you help me? GLINDA: You don't need to be helped any longer. You've always had the power to go back to Kansas. DOROTHY: I have? SCARECROW: Then why didn't you tell her before? GLINDA: Because she wouldn't have believed me. She had to learn it for herself. TIN MAN: What have you learned, Dorothy? DOROTHY: Well, I -- I think that it -- that it wasn't enough just to want to see Uncle Henry and Auntie Em -- and it's that – if I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own backyard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with! Is that right? GLINDA: That's all it is!
« Bonjour Madame, je cherche renseignements sur un cours de dégustation de vin ou un cours d'oenologie dans Toulouse. » So, since Mark and La were here and we did the tour of Bordeaux I have been obsessed with taking a wine tasting class. I have spent several sessions at ImpaQt dragging Mags or Jane around Toulouse in search of a course. Several internet searches, popping in at every ‘cave’ we saw and finally a trip to the tourist office and it turns out what I was looking for wasn’t even in the city it was in the village right next door. Who knew? Well, not me. So I start a short course (stage) in wine tasting (dégustation de vin) tomorrow night. The course consists of 4 classes 3 hours each for the next 4 Tuesday nights (le stage est réparti en 4 séances de 3 heures, de 20h à 23h, les mardis 14, 21 et 28 Septembre et 5 Octobre, 2004). Chaque séance comporte un exposé théorique présenté par vidéo projection, des exercices pratiques de dégustation et une dégustation commentée de 8 vins. or Every meeting includes a theoretical exposition presented by video projection, practical tasting exercises and a commentated tasting of 8 wines. Of course I also found a ‘cours d’oenologie’ at the local university which is a two year degree program. It would earn me a national degree in ‘Oenologie’ which is beyond just wine tasting. I would be educated in the art and science of wine. I could obtain a job as a sommelier in any French restaurant. This program is, however, VERY expensive and already closed for this year. The gentleman who I approached for information made it very clear by repeating several times (and by several I mean at least six or seven times) that - ‘le cours est très cher’ - the course is very expensive. As he hunted for a brochure to give me he showed me the registration form for the class which listed enrollment fees and tuition in excess of 8,000 €! Now that’s a serious class. The woman at the registration office told me that registration for the year was closed but that I could leave my name and phone number to be added to a waiting list in case someone dropped out. So, no, I’m guessing that that will not be the way to go. But still…
And just for fun, happy Monday to all! Nonsequitur by Wiley