I attended a surprise birthday party today in an unusual location. It is a pseudo castle in a vineyard in the middle of the St Lawrence river! A place called l’Île Ronde. We were told to gather at a marina in St Sulpice. I got there early as I was in charge of decorations. It was a bit awkward being all dressed up, waiting for the ferry, in a setting that was more cruising bar than waiting room… It had rained heavily during the day and the weather was uncertain so I had brought several pieces of extra clothing in my bag. I put it down at the edge of the terrace to go greet guests and mingle. Meanwhile the bar owner decided to evacuate the water that had accumulated on his awning by hitting the underside with a broom. It worked….marvelously well….and sent gallons of water gushing into my bag… Needless to say I never got to wear the spare garments….and I had to set my agenda and chequebook in the sunshine for 2 days afterwards before they were dry enough to use again.
Soon all the guests had gathered and the birthday girl arrived….duly surpised. We finally boarded the ferry. The boat ride was short and we soon saw the vines surrounding the house…
Needless to say this is not a chateau nor is the wine of Chateau quality…yet, but it was fun to walk around and see the small green grapes…and a bird nest….and a rainbow….
After dinner we were shown the cellar, which is more a garage than anything else, but they do have oak barrels!
Later that night as we sailed back in the dark, everyone put on blue fluorescent bracelets…it made me wish the crossing was longer….it was so pretty….