Page 210 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL SUMMER 2024 LIMA

“Bonjour? Vous avez besoin de moi ?
Hello! Do you need me?”
“Yes!” came the reply. “May we get into
your garden? We have a visitor from Amer‐
ica.”
The man, it turned out, was a renter,
and a handyman. “Mais bien sûr! Of course.
Let me open the gate!”
I stepped inside the grounds I knew
from my great-grandfather’s description,
only to experience a feeling of déjà vu,
thanks to a family photograph buried in
the black suitcase. The faded sepia print
showed my mother and her grandparents
sitting under the ancient chestnut trees I
was staring at in the middle of the lawn.
A few poppies peeked out of the wild
grass raising their red crowns to the sun‐
shine. Our “guide” turned to me and said: “I
bet you are more interested in what we
have in the back. Let me show you.” He
opened the blue door of the garage, and
led me out the back to face the actual
crayère, wine tunnel, where Prosper and
Blanche were sheltered by madame Gran‐
doeury and her daughter. Words fail to de‐
scribe the feeling that overcame me as I
sat on the low stone wall, perhaps in the
very same spot where Prosper had smoked
a cigarette, and savored the left-over rab‐
bit stew prepared by the Grandoeurys.

From Prosper’s journal:18 June 1940
Bombardment begins at dawn. We join
le curé at the église Saint Pierre, a number
of neighbors, and a horde of children, in
the crayère. The Grandoeury sisters keep
close watch to prevent pilferage of their
cellar’s contents. From time to time, one of
the sisters seeks respite in the garden to
escape the stale air and chill of the cellar.
We, too, take advantage of a lull in the ac‐
tion to warm ourselves in the sun. In the
morning, we are free to visit the kitchen for

210 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE SUMMER 2024