Huh?

Why "A Year of Kir," you may ask? My husband, Nick, and I are moving to Paris for the 2009-2010 school year while I work on an MA in French through Middlebury College. Kir--white wine and crème de cassis, a blackcurrant liqueur--is my apéritif (pre-dinner (or pre-lunch--why not?) drink) of choice here, and one whose acquaintance I made when I lived in Brittany the year I was 15. Kir (rhymes with "cheer") is France to me, and so it seemed a good mascot for these ten months here. Also, I love a good rhyme.  And, because I'm curious (and a little odd), I thought I'd photograph every kir I order during my sojourn, and put one at the top of each blog post. This one comes from Les Chênes Verts, a one-star restaurant in Tourtour, in Provence, where we had dinner a couple nights ago with our Brooklyn friends, Bill and Launa, and their daughters, Grace and Abigail. Their family is spending the year in France as well, but in a very different France from ours. They will be living in Aups, a small town in Provence, and Grace and Abigail will be going to school with wee Frenchies. Follow their adventures on Launa's funny, thoughtful, well written blog. Off to have some adventures in Lyon, where we're spending two nights before heading to Paris--more later.