A picture can paint a thousand words. So, it’s probable that a video can paint at least a million more. But if that’s true, then why do the sales of word-books far exceed those with just pictures? And why did the silent movie industry collapse so suddenly then?
Whether spoken, or written, words come with the ability to translate and transform. Create a reaction. Convey an emotion. Shouted. Whispered. Silently mouthed -Lineker-like. They can remain with you a life-time. Leaving joy, or pain. For some, they’re a festering splinter that never stops hurting. While other’s can bathe in the glow of love and praise. They can unite and divide. Disrupt and dismantle. Advise and dismiss. Subject and give comfort. Imprison or issue freedom. Profer understanding and confusion. Incite hate, relay forgiveness. Convince and dissuade. They can bring down a government. Rally troops in resistance.
Day 26 – It’s Sunday. A shorts and almost t-shirt Scoot into Cognac – today’s entertainment. The famous Hennessy brand HQ, situated Charante-side, our first port of call.
We forego the ‘grand-tour’ which includes a tasting. Not really our cup of tea. Instead we settle for the cheap and cheerful (as in free) A-Z of the Hennessy dynasty.
Today, Hennessy holds the largest collection of cognac eaux de vie in the world, with more than 470,000 casks maturing in its cellars.
With taste buds tickled, we move on over to the Musée des Savoir-Faire du Cognac. A fantastic walk through details the trials, tribulations and successes of cognac production. From planting, to grape, to bottle, to marketing, to delivery, to consumption.
It’s easy to overlook the multitude of mini industries that were, and still are, so critical to the brand’s survival.
You need to increase sales. Therefore you need more bottles, more quickly. They are currently hand blown. You have an idea to speed that process up. So you outsource the manufacture of a new piece of kit.
Day 27 – We treat ourselves to a day off from study. A wall to wall blue day is promised, from sunrise to sunset. It’s too good to be wasted. We go explore the local area around the very charming village of Bourg-Charante.
What is this picture actually saying? On its own what does it portray? Can the water temperature be established? Who was with the photographer? Was there agreement regarding the beauty of the scene? Did a boat come by a few minutes later to disturb the reflections?
Would the above sign work minus the words? Or is it better with them? Does it mean this way to see boats? Or, boat harbour over there? Or ferry port ahead? . . .