9/7/12

            Apparently Fridays are always half-work days (before harvest actually starts), so I was very excited about what I would do with my first bit of free time. But first, work. We actually went back to the same vineyard as the morning previous, in Saint-Joseph, but this time we worked primarily with Marsanne, a variety which is supposedly less susceptible to disease etc (I think because it is not as tight of a cluster as Roussanne). We went through this vineyard and performed the same task as always, except this time the lot was in much better shape. At about 930, we took our customary break. On this special day, it happened to be one of the workers (Jeremy) birthday. On a side note Jeremy went to school in Beaune France (Burgundy) for enology and viticulture, so I have been able to ask him questions which is a big help. For his birthday he brought out 4 bottles of champagne. We had six people at work.

Needless to say the hour and a half following the break before lunch was very productive and fun. I love the French work ethic. We then headed back to the farm shop to break for the weekend. I ate lunch, took a small siesta, and the Kiwi and I decided to ride bikes to Condrieu and explore a bit. We rode the bike path along the Loire River basically the whole way.

The town is very small but we found the bank as well as a bakery! Before we left I bought three croissants, one baguette, and a cookie at the bakery.

They had some sweet graffiti on the street:

We got back to the house, and Thuise made some traditional Brazilian chicken pie that her mother made when she was a child. Adam fixed risotto with baked squash. It seemed like the first home-cooked meal I had had in a while and I felt good.

Thuise said that her boyfriend was arriving that night and she had scheduled wine tasting for the following day in Saint-Joseph as well as Crozes-Hermitage, so I was very excited!