My Bride always seems to have several irons in the fire at any given time, as she has been a volunteer for many different organizations since before, we met.  Even though we are retired, I still have to book time for a date. Who ever created the concept of having mediocre looking watches that makes everyone act like Dick Tracy and count your footsteps was a genius; though for the record I still dislike that cellular phones make it too easy to find someone. She loves counting steps, so plenty of our dates include walking.  Well, there are plenty of places to go outdoors, but when the weather is getting close to ninety, we are neither kids, nor do we want to melt, hence some days at the museums are the perfect answer. 

The City of Detroit in its glory days created the Detroit Institute of Arts, and not only is it magnificent as a structure, it has been recognized as the finest art museum in the country, which is quite an accomplishment.  In elementary school, we used to take field trips there, and I have been going there ever since, some days in high school, we would cut classes to spend the day there; and on a hot summer day, it is the perfect place to be, as I always find something new after all these years.  My Bride and I even have Founder’s Society Memberships, even though residents of the tri-county area get free admission, which is wonderful, but so few people take advantage of it.  The museum even has there act together in halls that display priceless works of art in a cohesive flow, which is my biggest peeve, when we go to other museums while on holidays, art can appear to just be thrown on the wall, because there is space.  We both have our favorite halls, and sometimes we end up appreciating displays that we may have walked by in indifference at other trips.  There was even a special wing showcasing a modern artist from Detroit that made us feel like we were yokels from the boondocks rediscovering art.

All of this leads us to a little time of rest from meandering the three stories of a building the size of a city block.  Even with the wristwatch counting steps, it was time to take a moment and chat in the Kresge Court and have some refreshments, named after Sebastian Spering Kresge of S.S. Kresge’s 5 & 10¢ Stores, which later became Kmart’s.  When I was a kid and played hooky at times, the Kresge Court was actually open-air in the middle of the museum, but since those days it has been enclosed from the elements and for years, my Bride used to go to the Brunch with Bach sessions on the weekends.  We were going to have a casual dinner later, so we stopped for some Kettle Chips and some bubbles.  At times I am so romantic.  We had some Charles de Fere Cuvee Jean-Louis Blanc de Blancs Brut Vin de France NV.  Vin de France is a term for wines that do not fit the criteria for AOP or IGP appellation laws and are usually from high-yielding vineyards like in the south of France; usually found in “bag-wines” or “box-wines,” though there are exceptions and has more consumer acceptance compared to the old Vin de Table.  The history of Charles de Fere is the story one family’s commitment to the best traditional sparkling wine methods Jean-Louis Denois opened a sparkling winery at Fere-en-Tardenois, in the north-east of Reims in 1980, based on his family’s five generations of wine making.  The wine is a blend of Airen, Ugni Blanc, Durello, Chenin Blanc, and Chardonnay.  The wine is made in the traditional method (Methode Champenoise) and is aged on the lees for three months with daily stirring, and then second fermentation to create the Brut designation. A very pale golden colored wine with fine to medium bubbles and offering notes of tree fruits.  On the palate there were tones of fresh pears, and apples and rather crisp.  A very easy drinking wine on a hot day.