Tuesday, 10 July 2012

Christine's bottle of wine


Today was a day of mixed emotions. One thing that was not mentioned before is that this trip started with a bottle of wine. It makes perfect sense for Mario to get the ball rolling for a five weeks trip to France for ten people because of a bottle of wine. But not any kind of wine. It's obviously a very special bottle of wine. In fact it's kind of an unknown wine because we still don't have it. We're supposed to collect it at the end of our trip in Paris and drink it when we're all staying together on a houseboat on the Seine, near the Eiffel Tower.

So, the story of this bottle of wine started about three years ago when Mario's brother and sister-in-law, Michel and Christine went to France to celebrate her fiftieth birthday. Christine is from France, from the Bresse region between Lyon and Switzerland. Since she and Mario both like to share good wines, she offered him a special bottle of wine for his fiftieth birthday. The particular provision with this gift was that Mario had to go to France to collect it on his own. And after many discussions with Christine and Michel (and quite a few delicious bottles of wine), a plan emerged to go to France for a few weeks in order to experience what different regions have to offer in terms of food, wine, history, geography and culture. So here we are, fully experiencing what France has to offer, just as Christine had suggested it, and enjoying every moments of our trip. In that respect, today was a wonderful day.

But sadly, Christine passed away this morning from complications from breast cancer. She was first diagnosed in her early thirties and had lost both her mother and a maternal aunt to the same disease at very young ages. She survived several episodes and numerous and very difficult treatments and surgeries over the years, but after more than twenty years of living with breast cancer, the disease finally got the better of her. Despite knowing that this Sword of Damocles was constantly hanging over her head, Christine tried to enjoy life to the fullest during the years she knew were quite limited. She loved to travel and was always cheerful, optimistic and full of energy. For those who knew her, she will be missed dearly.


Sailing in Montreal with Tristan and Joy in October 2011


With Vicki and the kids during a visit to Toronto last November

With Michel and Vicki

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