Free Republic

The French call pinot noir "the noble grape" and have long considered it a source of inspiration. Now it can also be appreciated as the reason for an extensive, localized climate record. A study found a close match between pinot noir grape harvest dates in Burgundy, sea surface temperature trends and the Western European climate. The relationship could be used to forecast harvest dates months in advance. Yves Tourre, from the Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, N.Y. and the French meteorological service, Meteo-France, in Toulouse, presented research on the significance of a nearly 700-year record of pinot noir grape...

Some 10,000 people have attended the funeral of Brother Roger, the founder of the religious community of Taize. German President Horst Koehler, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy and clergy from around the world were at the service. The 90-year-old Swiss-born theologian was stabbed to death by a Romanian woman while celebrating mass last week. He founded the community during World War II as a refuge to people of all Christian denominations. Taize, in the Burgundy region of France, later became an international pilgrimage site for young people who go there to pray and meditate. It draws some 100,000 people each...

Okay. We get it. You need money to run the joint.You have your quarterly fundraisers and they seemed to be working out.Must you put VisaMasterCardDiscoverAmericanExpress logos all over the place now as well?It cheapens the joint.