Photo du Jour - Bare

Bare, recently pruned vines in the Minervois.

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Photo du Jour - Picked

The vendange has been going for about a month now.
First the white, now the red.

The village streets are dotted with grapes spilled on their way to the cave to be crushed and the air is filled with the aroma of rich, earthy yeast.  
Les vignerons are barely taking a moment to rest.

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Photo du Jour - On the Vine

The bounty of the Languedoc summer, waiting for harvest to begin.

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An Early Morning Vineyard Walk

This is my morning dog walk.
Up a small road that is lined with lichen covered, ash colored stone walls.

Past an open garden gate. I can hear another early riser tending to their garden behind the tall stone wall.

Into the vineyards. The grapes are coming along nicely.



My weekly contribution to Your Sunday Best, hosted by Nancy at A Rural Journal.

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Photo du Jour - Spring Sunset

I always appreciate a spectacular sunset. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Immaculate

A freshly pruned and very tidy vineyard above our village.

One of the things I miss most this time of year is the color green. Winter in a Mediterranean climate zone can be a bit stark. And cold! Pin It

Photo du Jour - Minervois Morning

A very atmospheric morning. Pin It

Meanwhile, Back in France...

I'm home!
And I have so much to write about. 

For the moment though, I'm so tired I can hardly think.  So until I get my exhausted self in order I thought I would share some of spectacular, south of France autumn colors that I came home to early Tuesday morning. 

(All of theses photos were taken in 2008, but the vineyards look exactly the same this year) Pin It

Traffic in the Minervois

I've never liked commuting.  In fact, I hated every minute of it.

My commute to work these days is a quick 12 minute drive on a narrow, serpentine road past acres and acres of vineyards, across a bridge and through a bustling village (with an excellent boulangerie), past a few olive groves and along the shores of a small lake.

If I don't run into traffic that is.

In the spring the horses from a neighboring farm like to wander around, looking for spring delicacies sprouting in the fields to nibble on.

At the height of summer teams of cyclists appear.  I still don't understand why they choose to ride around in 38 degree C weather, but hey, to each his own.

Now that summer is coming to an end and the vendange has begun, it's the tractors and harvesters.  From now until the end of September I won't be able to drive anywhere without getting stuck behind one of these lumbering vehicles, who's top speed is a whopping 25 kilometers an hour.

If anything, living in France has certainly taught me patience.  And to expect the unexpected when driving!

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Not Quite...

I usually wander out into the vineyards sometime in mid August to check out the grapes.
They're coming along.  Ripening a bit more slowly than last year, but the reports from our vigneron neighbors are positive.
Can't wait to try the 2010 vintage. Pin It

Ten Reasons I Love Living in France

La Belle France. I was seduced by her charms at an early age and have been a passionate francophile ever since. There are dozens of reasons why I love living here, and here are my top ten.

1) The cheese!
Obviously


2) The people we've met and the friends we've made

3) The food
You just can't think of France without thinking of food. It is the raison d'être.


4) Quaint harbor towns
Honfleur, Saint-Palais-sur-Mer, Collioure, Cassis, Antibes, Mèze


5) The health care
Just read the story of my broken arm and you'll understand why.

6) Paris
I am totally smitten with this city.


7) The cafés
Simple, honest food, wine by the carafe and the best people watching.


8) The markets
So cliché, I know. But they are an intrinsic part of life in France and I love shopping at them.


9) The vineyards


10) I am now one of them
"Bienvenue au club," they say with a smile. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Dazzling

A burst of color where the vineyards meet the garrigue.

This was taken a couple of days ago. I just stepped outside to find little flakes of snow falling. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Blown Away

The soft, unseasonable autumn weather we've been having means that the leaves have been hanging on for a bit longer than usual.
Some strong winds blew last night and sadly blew most of them away.

Luckily I snapped this photo (and many others of the vineyards) before that happened. Pin It

Village Blues

The powder blue over dark purple grapes. The startling, vibrant sky that can range from steel to cobalt to azure. The shutters painted everything from fresh cornflower to faded sapphire to pale periwinkle.

Camille of Croque-Camille tagged me a few weeks ago and invited me to participate in this game: find seven blue objects in your house and do a little show and tell.
Lucky for me, Camille opened up the game to creative interpretation, so I took it outside.

Here are my Village Blues.















The seven others I would like to tag are: Pumpkin, Veronica, Anne, Caron, Half Baked, Walt and Ken. The seven blue items can be from your house, your kitchen, your town, your pantry, your shoe closet, whatever. Have fun with it! Pin It

Photo du Jour - Vendanges

Our neighbors from Domaine Coudoulet bringing the grapes in from the fields. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Lunch with a View

Lunch with a gorgeous view over the vineyards and the Pyrénées. Pin It

Photo du Jour - A Very Good Year

With the plentiful sunshine and long, hot days we've been having, it looks as though the grapes are coming along nicely. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Deep in the Heart of France

The beauty of the Languedoc-Roussillon never fails to amaze me. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Old Stones and Old Vines

A weathered stone building in the middle of the oldest Carignan vineyard in the Languedoc, circa 1902. Pin It

Photo du Jour - Fields of Gold

Slowly but surely the vineyards here in the Minervois are being ripped up and planted with olive trees, fields of asparagus and even hay. Pin It