futé
pépin

mise

Misenbouteille_2
Babé and Jean-Marc preparing for the first bottles to arrive...

Cheryl_jamison_2 I wrote* about Cheryl and Bill Jamison's visit to our place a few years back... I hear they've written about it too! Join me in the rush to buy a copy of their latest book "Around the World in 80 Dinners: The Ultimate Culinary Adventure"

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Today's word:
mise (meez) noun, feminine
  the putting (of something in a place) ; placing

la mise en bouteilles = wine bottling
(more expressions at the end of this post...)

Si vous voulez faire de la mise en scène,* n'achetez pas d'auto. Prenez le métro, l'autobus, ou allez à pied. Observez de près les gens qui vous entourent. If you want to do a little change of scenery, then don't buy a car. Take the metro, the bus, or go by foot. Observe, close up, the people that surround you. --Fritz Lang
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*la mise en scene also describes the atmosphere of a film, play, or other performance.

Listen to my son, Max, pronouce the French word "mise" and read today's quote:
Download mise.mp3

Download mise.wav

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Column
It took eight of us to cork, cap, and "carton" 7,200 bottles of Rouge-Bleu* wine yesterday. The rented bottling-contraption-on-wheels was delivered to our vineyard and hooked up to a cement tank in the wine cellar. We had only to step up to the platform and into the truck bed to begin work.

IMG_4084 I enjoy repetitive tasks and so was happy to win the post of packager. I shared this job with Babé* (baah-bay) a former school principal and "Rebel Retiree". If there's one thing Babé hates, it's slow-motion. To really annoy her, just slow the conveyor belt or stop feeding it altogether in time to "refuel". I loved watching Babé puff out her breath and râle* each time the bottles quit flying.

Babé and I caught those bottles as they careened forth from the engine's entrails, which hissed, grumbled, and spat like an ornery old cat. When the bottles weren't delivered fast enough, Babé crawled across the snaking conveyor belt to retrieve them. For this, she was scolded by Uncle Jean-Claude, who warned her that machines were without mercy, best not to get caught in them!

Unlike Babé, panic is my initial response to everything. Catching fast-moving, fragile merchandise is no exception. "They're going to crash!" I shrieked, when the first bottles sped toward us. Looking out of the truck, to where the bottles were headed, I imagined a pile of wet, broken glass.

"T'inquiète!"* Babé said. I watched her hands, all twelve of them, spin, swooping up bottles and packaging them, as she saved herself from idleness and sin.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~References~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rouge-Bleu = http://www.rouge-bleu.com ; Babé = term of endearment for Elizabeth; râle (râler) = to grumble or complain; t'inquiète! = don't worry! (idiomatic command used in colloquial French)
More French idiomatic commands in the book Colloquial French Grammar


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shopping~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Featured Francophile Must-Have: charm up any bathroom with this so-French soap holder

French Vintage style utensils pot
Paris Themed Decorative Gift Tags
Eiffel Tower Coir Doormat, for a France-friendly welcome
In French music: Quelqu'un M'a Dit by French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy

~~~~~~Terms, Expressions... French Idioms~~~~~~
être de mise = to be acceptable
bien mis(e) = nicely turned out
soigner sa mise = to take pride in one's appearance
remporter la mise = to carry the day
la mise à l'eau = launching of ship
la mise en jeu
= the bringing into play of something
la mise en pratique
= the practical application of something
la mise en liberté = the releasing, release
find more definitions in this dictionaries:
Robert and Collins Senior: Dictionnaire francais-anglais, anglais-francais (pricey, but there may be used copies available)

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For more online reading: The Lost Gardens: A Story of Two Vineyards and a Sobriety

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