Last of the summer wine

No, not that. (If you’re a Brit and old enough to remember. )

This one.

I know there are wine snobs whose noses are permanently turned up at the thought of rosé. Screw them. Rosé is a wonderful summer tipple.

My friend Rowan agrees. Fifteen years ago, when we did a camping trip in the south of France, one of the places we visited was the picture perfect village Cordes-sur-Ciel. The first evening we climbed up to the top of the hill and found a patio restaurant with amazing views. When we looked around at the other diners we were delighted to note that everyone who was drinking wine was drinking rosé. Fuck you, wine snobs. 

This Sunday dinner last week was also the last Catherine dinner for the year. There was still some oregano, some chives and some basil, so one last chance until next spring.

What’s that I was reading? It’s a copy of a film script, Carpathia, written by my friend Robert, which he left for me to read after his visit.

Carpathia? Carpathia? Why does that sound familiar? Top marks if you knew it was the name of the only ship that answered the distress call from the Titanic on that fateful night. I did know that. What I didn’t know was quite how much the Carpathia and its crew had to go through to actually reach the lifeboats which were all that remained of the supposedly unsinkable luxury liner. It is an absolutely amazing story and would make an absolutely wonderful film. (And unlike the overblown James Cameron film, which I’ve never been able to sit through, the almost unbelievable “love story” subplot in Carpathia is absolutely true, absolutely not based on fictional characters.

One of the major studios (I can’t remember which) has read and liked the script, but is unwilling to invest a big budget on an unknown writer. They’ve suggested he come back to them with a smaller (budget) script. For a guy with big ideas (we’ve already come up with an idea for a just-as-big film), this is proving quite challenging.

Speaking of the last of summer… It was a nice day yesterday. I did try to take my coffee outside, but it was just too cold to sit there for long. 

It was time to take the umbrella down.

And to put away the summer room until next spring.

It really is the last of summer.