Paul, the leading character in your novel, leaves his company for one year and decides to go to Chateau Gruaud Larose. Why did he take this decision to go to Bordeaux instead of travelling, for instance, all over the world?
He already travelled all over the world! In his company, Martineau & Co, Paul had the privilege to make business internationally. He flew many times to New York, Tokyo, Dubai, Shanghai, London, Sydney, Singapore, Hong Kong for short meetings and then sometimes took the opportunity to stay in the best resorts of these cities. In fact, I do not write it in the book, but before taking his decision, he was in Japan and stayed three days in a beautiful historic place close to Fuji Mount. This very traditional ryokan is famous for its hot springs called "onsen" and where guests can relax. So Paul experienced many of the most fantastic places in the world and did not feel the need to travel again during his sabbatical year. In fact, in most places he visited, he was staying in great hotels but was always feeling sad. He was alone indeed. And the three days spent in this japanese ryokan made him understand that, after 10 long years of hard work in Haute Finance, he needed to find a "real sense" in his own life. Travelling would not have helped him finding this "real sense". He needed to find a new job and at the same time to find true relationships rather than just having a break for sea, sun and ....
Why Gruaud Larose? Some of his friends made some other proposals...
Yes indeed but it was not what Paul was looking for. He began to toss up a few ideas about the project with his friends and acquaintances. Most of them, some of them with a pinch of jealousy that was only scantly disguised, tried to convince him to simply forget such folly and get back to Martineau& Co. Then others, the wackier ones, suggested things that were simply off the wall that left him more puzzled than anything else: writing a book on the world’s best bars would have allowed him to stay drunk without spending a penny but nothing else. Living the drudgery of a year in a factory to better understand the harsh reality of life? Even if he was disconnected from the "reality of life" he knew there was misery in this world and preferred to get a new working experience that could help him to definitely forget about "Haute Finance" in the future. And finally, what about his hedonist friend who proposed "365 women over 365 days": nothing worthy of much interest for Paul.
So he decided to live "la vie de chateau" which is quite confortable, isn't it?
He did not go to Gruaud Larose for "la vie de chateau". He went there to simply re-discover "la Vie". The daily life in the vineyard, the daily life with people from Saint Julien Beychevelle, the life in Bordeaux...the real life indeed. Spending one year at Chateau Gruaud Larose helped him to get a unique working experience, to make new and "true" friends, to discover new places and also to forget about his job at Martineau & Co. It was the perfect adequation with his requirements at this stage. And I believe that Paul is not a particular character as you can find many people around you who feel the same in 2011 in their job position. But they do not dare to jump into a new life. They do not want to take such a risk even if, every day, they feel bad in their job position and nearly feel sick on sunday evening when they start thinking of their agenda for the coming week...In this novel, Paul shows that people can make such a jump into uncertainty and be happy in their new life. Going to Chateau Gruaud Larose was Paul's decision but there are millions of different ideas which could make some people much happier in their own life than they are today.
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