Have you ever visited Chartres in France? I hadn’t until recently, but a much-needed pitstop during a long drive with a three-year-old meant we found ourselves wandering around its staggering cathedral, feeling completely insignificant. I love how large-scale Romanesque cathedrals will do that to you. While I should’ve been marvelling at the flying buttresses, I confess I was completely distracted by the constant stream of people with boxes of wine under their arms: was this the wedding at Cana 2.0?
Like ants on their programmed routes, they all seemed to be filing out of the same street. Never one to ignore the possibility that there’s some wine fun happening, I followed the trail of wine-wielding people. I could hear it before I saw it, a huge brass band playing joyous French music, with crowds cheering and singing along. And there it was, a glorious wine fair in the town centre under the 19th-century covered market.
