Vendanges!

Linguists know you can learn a lot about a culture by seeing what concepts rate a specific word in one language but not in another. One such French word is “vendanges”, or “harvesting the grapes used to make wine”. “Vendanges” is the harvest itself and also the grape which is harvested. It is usually used in the plural. There are also two verb forms – “faire les vendanges” ,used more often by the workers who do the labor, and “vendanger”, used by the owner of the vineyard.
During the French Revolution, when the Gregorian Calendar was replaced by the Republican Calendar for fourteen years, the first month (running from approximately Sept 22nd to Oct 21st) was called Vendémiaire,
“Les vendanges” is an intense period varying, according to the region and the warmth of late summer, from the end of August to the middle of October. Each region harvests in about two weeks, so lots of extra workers are needed. It is a popular end-of-summer job for students – backbreaking work during the day and fun in the evening. In recent years, the unemployment offices have posted “vendanges” jobs for people waiting for those job interviews to materialize.
Years ago, I participated in a private “vendanges” The small vineyard had been a hobby of Marc’s dad while he and his wife raised their 6 children who were handy “vendangeurs” each year. But by 1982 the children were grown up and scattered around France. They gathered for one last "vendanges" and I was invited. It rained the whole weekend but I still remember the fun we had.






Nowadays, my “vendang”-ing”is limited to Montmartre.
In 1930, as a protest against the proposed construction of an apartment building, the citizens of Montmartre (yes, of course, it’s been part of Paris since 1860 but has never fully accepted that) decided to plant a new vineyard on the site.


This, officially, was in honor of past vineyards in the area from the Middle Ages until that fatal 19th century year of 1860. Today the vineyard is lovingly tended by the gardeners of the Parks and Gardens of Paris and produces about 500 bottles of, apparently, appallingly bad wine that is sold at auction for charity.


And, after the "vendanges", a 5 day Festival delights Parisians and tourists alike.
This year's Festival was held from October 7th to 11th. There was much singing, dancing; eating, drinking, art, conversation, story telling,




and, on Saturday afternoon, the Big Parade -- followed that evening by fireworks. It almost rained but it didn’t and much fun was had by all.








Wish you could have been there, too. Maybe next year.