Harvest time, part 2

Yesterday, I left the farm where I spent almost two weeks helping harvest grapes and begin the preparations of organic juice and wine from the year's grape harvest. It was such an intense experience that it seemed much longer, however. Our host's passion for biodynamic methods and small-scale production were quite inspiring -- I would highly enourage anyone with an interest in spending some time in France in the autumn to look up The Domaine des Grottes in Beaujolais!

It was interesting to see the range of people involved in the harvest. For the traditional (non-organic) growers, some of the harvesting is done mechanically now. But most of it is done by hand -- mostly by 20-something workers, many of whom travel by caravan or truck from seasonal worksite to site. Their work days are much longer than the shifts I put in as a "WOOFer", finished each evening by a gathering in the parking lot of the local farm cooperative -- relaxing with cheap bottles of wine; the tradition is to make a wish before spending your cork flying into the crowd. On the one evening I dropped in with the friend of one of our hosts, there were probably 200 young people sitting in the parking lot. It was quite the scene.

Back on our organic farm, it was a smaller crowd, and a bit less rowdy, although the wine did free quite flowly -- a perk of helping out at a vineyard!

A few pictures follow:
-the beautiful "grappes" of "raisins" that we searched for
-pressing grapes by foot -- a first stage to bring out liquid
-preparing juice for filtering pasteurization with my lovely fellow WOOFers -- a British couple & a South African woman
-and various states of relaxation with our fellow pickers
-it's our host Romain who is playing the piano out in the vineyard, just as we finished the harvest on the last day -- a yearly tradition on their farm!

 

Le temps des vendages

The last week has been an immersion into harvest season at an organic vineyard and winery in the Beaujolais region of France. The first day, I had serious doubts about whether I would be able to handle the work for the two weeks I had arranged through the WOOFing program.

But after several days here, I can say that I have received such a warm welcome that I feel very privileged to be included in this yearly ritual. It is quite the experience. My hosts are a couple with a young son; however, there have been between eight and twenty people working and sharing meals together. It is such a tradition in this area that friends from across France have arrived for weekend work-bees --and several of the bunch speifically time their vacations to be able to join in.

Although cutting and harvesting grapes for most of the day isn't in itself something I find all that fun, there are perks! The rolling hills and quiet, the amazing night sky, the great compan, French practice, and of course; the food! We have shared in cooking on the quieter days a hours and enjoyed prepared gourmet food on the busy weekend. And even in the field, our snacks are quiet classy: wine, coffee, bread from the local bakery, dark chocolate and sometimes even mutiple varieties of cheese!

I am here for another week and, while I have no plans to move to a farm myself, it has been such an experience! Next post, I will include photos of the views and some of my new activities -- including crushing grapes by foot.

The journey begins...

Hello everyone!

I started my “European adventure” about five days ago, although it seems much longer already. I’d forgotten how tiring travelling can be, as so many simple tasks seem to be much more complicated in a foreign location.  I’ve had my share of ups and downs already, at the very beginning of this adventure of indeterminate duration – likely four to six months if my finances and my energy hold out. 

My choice to temporarily pack up my life for adventures “on the road” has seemed crazy on more than one occasion, both before I left and also during some of the stressful moments here. Surrounded by noisy Australian and British roommates in a Paris hostel, I wondered if I wasn’t too old for this type of travel.  Yet I’ve also experienced deep relief and satisfaction from numerous small encounters and minor accomplishments. I’ve had to spend quite a bit of time finding a solution to small problems, from the fact that my “universal” electrical converter doesn’t work with my laptop charger, to understanding European technology in bathrooms and on public transit. I expect that some of my logistic challenges will smooth out as I resolve technical issues, but I know the continual appearance of new challenges is part of what makes travelling so challenging –and rewarding!

I’ve had a number of lovely surprises. For one, my experience of Paris was an improvement on my stay there back in 1997 (!); the metros were less smelly than I remembered and people seemed happy to speak to me in French, rather than switching to English. Despite my strong accent, my intervening language-learning efforts have paid off, I suppose. Someone even asked if I was from Quebec, which I took as a complement, given my mangled accent.  As much as I found the tourist crowds at popular sites in Paris rather overwhelming, I do think it seems like a very liveable city: human-scaled, with well-organized transit, and many attractive public spaces. I also think it’d be a great place to vacation again if/when I have an unlimited budget!

 I realized that some stereotypes do have a strong basis in reality – French people really do frequently walk around carrying baguettes!  And so far, I’ve found only three items that are cheaper here than back in Canada – but they’re fantastic items. Wine, fair-trade chocolate, and even better: cheese. I almost fell over when I saw the prices in the cheese section in a supermarket – less than one-third of what I’d find at home. I’ve also appreciated how helpful many French people have been, whether offering patient explanations in technology stores, offering directions, and my favourite, the kind man who offered me his seat when I was hauling my big backpack from the airport after arriving in Paris.

Now that I’ve arrived in Lyon, in south-central France, I’ve felt like my travels have followed more of the pathways I’d envisioned. I experienced an excellent guided tour today, through ruins of a Roman theatre and “traboules”, hidden passageways in the medieval section of Lyon. More to come on Lyon’s history and status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site… I have some more exploring to do!