For dedicated Matt is in France followers, you will remember my stressful trip to Lyon last summer where I thought I was as stressed as possible while train hopping. But alas traveling gets even more crazy with this trip to Avignon.
This post is going to follow the form of one of my favorite novels and events: create your own adventure. At every plot turn, I will give you three options, two of which ultimately lead to our death, one which continues the story. (we'll see how this works)
So Sara and I set out Saturday morning to go to the small town of Uzese which has a farmers market every Saturday. So we take the 20 minute bike ride into Goudargues and ask the super helpful guy at the office of tourism which buses to take. Unfortunately there was not a direct bus, so it would have taken 2 hours to get there and 2 hours to get back for just 3 hours in the city. He instead recommended that we go to the more entertaining and more accessible Avignon France. We agreed that was a better option, but somehow needed to tell our hosts that we wouldnt be back for dinner. What do we do?
A) Pay money to use the internet at the office of tourism to look up their number, and then call them.
B) Try to bike back to Gressac and then back to Goudargues even though we only have 30 minutes to make this 40 minute trek
C)Give up and go back to Gressac without going to Avignon
A)After having successfully called home we got on the bus and arrived in Avignon. But being poor college students, and having spent all our money on internet access cannot afford food and die of hunger.
B) There I was Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France, I decided to go alone (because Sara rides bikes like I did in Amsterdam [very very slowly]) pushing past the burning in my quads, breathing heavy, I make the final turn into Gressac. Finding no one, I leave a small note for our hosts, return to Goudargues, and make the bus with a minute and a half to spare.
C) You obviously have not read the title of this post, and we thus die of sadness
Our bus dropped us off in a slightly larger small town called Bagnole sur Ceze. We buy some lunch at a local bakery and board the bus to Avingon. I awake to Sara shaking me, and the view of the historic walls of Avignon. Having been here approximately one year ago, I successfully guided us to the center of the city. I left Sara to tour the Palais des Papes and Bridge of Avignon alone, and embarked on my own adventure. I walked into some of the lesser known attractions, like the large market, the theatre school, and the random neighborhood in between the two. We meet back up, do some grocery shopping, and head to the bus depot to catch our bus on line 15.
We become a little nervous when we dont see our bus on the electronic schedule, what do we do?
A)Take the bus on line 15 even though it doesn't have Goudargues on the front
B)Recognize the bus that goes between Bagnoles and Avignon and hop on that one just before it leaves
C) Walk into the post-apocalyptic-zombie-killing-video-game-esque information room to ask the sole embittered and blatantly apathetic SNCF agent what to do
A)That bus falls off a mountain
B)As the doors close we lunge on the bus, only to get our feet caught in the door. We get wisked away to the hospital where they amputate our legs. Two days later we die of infection. (In hind-sight this actually would have been the best option)
C)We grit our teeth and ask. She looks up from her texting just long enough respond:
Lady working the info desk: "Oh that Line 15? It doesnt exist anymore"
Us: "Merde"
The next bus to Goudagues didnt leave until the next morning. There was however one more bus to go to Bagnole sur Ceze that left in an hour. We headed to the train station, and by the graces of the nicest SNCF agent ever, we found Reto's phone number, and were able to call him. He told us he couldnt pick us up from Bagnole, but that hitch hiking was common in Europe and that we should give it a shot.What do we do?
A)Board the bus, return to Bagnole, and attempt to hitch-hike back to Goudargues
B)Find the nearest hotel, book a room for the night and spend the night in downtown Avignon
C)Find a cozy corner of the train station and wait for the first bus out in the morning.
A)We grab some dinner, get on the crowded bus, and hope for the best.
B)We check into the Hotel Faux, and just as our eyes close to go to sleep, a patron at the hotel bar flicks his cigarette into a trashcan, igniting the legendary Avignon fire of 2011 in which two American students tragically lost their lives
C) (Of course we didnt consider this Mom.....). Just as we find the coziest spot possible it become light, then brighter, then brighter. Hit by a train.
We arrive in Bagnole, walk 10 minutes to the proper road leading to Goudargues, and stick our our thumbs. Now I've been trying (somewhat unsuccessfully) to share responsibility with Sara and not take control of everything in stressful situations as I am prone to do. In trying to do this, I asked Sara to be the one to stick out her thumb. The first car comes...and goes. The second comes...and goes. I make eye contact with the third drive and he just shakes his head...things arnt looking up. Ten cars pass and still no one has so much as touched their brakes.
Before I finish this tense moment, let me back up and give you a touch of background info. Our second night here, Reto and Laurance invited the vintner Jean-Se and his wife Sophie for a welcome dinner for us. We saw them for maybe 3 hours and this was 2 weeks ago.
Just as Sara and I are discussing how to best keep warm if we sleep in a field, a car going the opposite direction comes to a stop and asks "Sara? Matt?." Sophie had seen us going towards Goudargues, turned around, and picked us up. Just to highlight the point: Sara and I have met 6 people in this part of France: Reto, Laurence, OC, Joe, Jean-Se and Sophie, and one of them happened to be driving down that road, at that time, saw us, recognized us, and stopped to pick us up. Apparently she was just getting off work in Bagnole, had seen Sara (who she recognized (lucky she was the one with her thumb out)) and stopped to get us. She dropped us at Goudargues and after prolific thanking, headed home.
At this point, its 10PM, we're tired, its dark, but if ever two people needed a drink, it was Sara and I. We plopped into a bar, had a beer (coincidentally saw OC too), and then headed home. Not to exaggerate the point, but its 10:30, and this is the middle of rural France where lampposts are not of the utmost priority, and we are biking home. Sara had a couple of "this is crazy" moments, but we arrived home safe. I fell asleep before I hit the pillow.
Monday, May 30, 2011
Sunday, May 29, 2011
Fast Forward to Catch Up
So Ive fallen behind on blogging but Im going to run through these next few events really quickly so I can go on to post about this weekend (the 28th).
Bottling:
We spent one day putting the white wine in the bottles. We're doing this again on Tuesday so Ill have an elaborate post and photos then.
Wine Cellar:
As a kinda pet project I organized Gressac's wine cellar. It was really cool dealing with 20 year old bottles of wine. Unfortunately, as it turns out most of them are undrinkablely bad.
Goudargues: Last saturday the 21st Sara and I went to Goudargue by bike. It's a really small village (like 1 road, 2 bars, a few restaurants and a bank). We walked around the city, ate some lunchtook a nap by the river, and brought back some bread products (there is only a bakery) for dinner. I defer to Sara's Blog (which is really good and conveniently linked on the right hand side of your screen) for more details (and pictures).
Old Stuff:
Well... it's everywhere. Gressac is a really old really big building. I walked around one afternoon an took some pictures. Ill try to put them us ASAP.
I apologize for the overwhelming banality of this post. But check in tomorrow for and update on our trip to Avignon (that was super stressful and trying) and some photos.
Bottling:
We spent one day putting the white wine in the bottles. We're doing this again on Tuesday so Ill have an elaborate post and photos then.
Wine Cellar:
As a kinda pet project I organized Gressac's wine cellar. It was really cool dealing with 20 year old bottles of wine. Unfortunately, as it turns out most of them are undrinkablely bad.
Goudargues: Last saturday the 21st Sara and I went to Goudargue by bike. It's a really small village (like 1 road, 2 bars, a few restaurants and a bank). We walked around the city, ate some lunchtook a nap by the river, and brought back some bread products (there is only a bakery) for dinner. I defer to Sara's Blog (which is really good and conveniently linked on the right hand side of your screen) for more details (and pictures).
Old Stuff:
Well... it's everywhere. Gressac is a really old really big building. I walked around one afternoon an took some pictures. Ill try to put them us ASAP.
I apologize for the overwhelming banality of this post. But check in tomorrow for and update on our trip to Avignon (that was super stressful and trying) and some photos.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Whitewater Canoeing
Today after fighting with the medusa-esque vines, Laurence and Reto invited us to go canoeing with them. So all of us (Reto, Laurence, Alexis (their 4 year old son), Ocean (their au pair who goes by OC), Jean-Luc (their friend), Stephania (Jean-luc's wife), Sara and I piled into Retos four-wheeler (a quatre-quatre in French (pronounced cat-cat)) to head down to the river where we met Joe (OC's friend) .
As the proud holder of the canoeing merit badge and the four-time reigning champion of the high meadows banana boat race, I feel pretty well qualified to say what is and what isn't canoeing. My general rule of thumb: if there's whitewater, it's not canoeing. This was not canoeing. That being said it was not that difficult but it was beyond what any normal American family would stick their 4 year old in a boat and say "have fun".
With years of nantahalay and ocoee river trips under my belt, I felt confident I could guide our boat (Sara and I) to victory, or at least not-embarrassment. The first rapid approached, we get up to ramming speed and hit the first hole perfectly only to get caught on the second row. No sooner do I think "well it's just shallow everyone is going to get caught than do all three of the other boats fly by each with their own quirk: Joe had already popped beer and taking a little break with his feet up letting OC guide them through, Jean-Luc was yelling a militaristic "Droite, Gauche, Droite, Gauche" and didn't stop for practically the whole 2-hour trip, and Reto had passed over the reigns (or oar as it were) to his son which left his hands free to snap a photo of us. This combined with my rock climbing experience last year has led me to the conclusion that the French are much more hardcore outdoorsmen then us.
Canoeing was a lot of fun. We passed by Gressac and stopped on her beaches, got to see some French scenery, and cooled off from a hot day (albeit unwillingly on Sara's part).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
As the proud holder of the canoeing merit badge and the four-time reigning champion of the high meadows banana boat race, I feel pretty well qualified to say what is and what isn't canoeing. My general rule of thumb: if there's whitewater, it's not canoeing. This was not canoeing. That being said it was not that difficult but it was beyond what any normal American family would stick their 4 year old in a boat and say "have fun".
With years of nantahalay and ocoee river trips under my belt, I felt confident I could guide our boat (Sara and I) to victory, or at least not-embarrassment. The first rapid approached, we get up to ramming speed and hit the first hole perfectly only to get caught on the second row. No sooner do I think "well it's just shallow everyone is going to get caught than do all three of the other boats fly by each with their own quirk: Joe had already popped beer and taking a little break with his feet up letting OC guide them through, Jean-Luc was yelling a militaristic "Droite, Gauche, Droite, Gauche" and didn't stop for practically the whole 2-hour trip, and Reto had passed over the reigns (or oar as it were) to his son which left his hands free to snap a photo of us. This combined with my rock climbing experience last year has led me to the conclusion that the French are much more hardcore outdoorsmen then us.
Canoeing was a lot of fun. We passed by Gressac and stopped on her beaches, got to see some French scenery, and cooled off from a hot day (albeit unwillingly on Sara's part).
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Cez River, Saturday May 21
What the heck WWOOFers do
I would like to start off this post with a picture of Reto operating a steamroller in a hole.
He is building a septic tank for their new house by himself and asked for a little help. I like working with Reto, he's very explicit with his instructions and expectations but then meticulous in getting everything exactly right. That and he owns a steamroller.
Other than helping Reto with the "caca hole" as he refers to it, Sara and I have been doing the same thing every day, and it's getting a little tedious. Well groomed vine looks a little like a pitchfork, with one main stalk rising to the ground and then all of the healthy vine splits off about knee hight (or waist hight if you're Sara). This doesnt happen naturally and that's where we come in. We cut anything an everything that comes out of the ground that isnt the main stalk. Having trouble picturing it? Luckily I have before and after pictures:
This can take a while.
The group of vines we are working on (and have been since Wednesday) are Syras (I'll check the spelling later) on the highest point of the vineyard (right next to La Madonne if you've looked through the pictures on picasa [see the link on the right entitled "My Photos"]). They're divided into three sections. The first and lowest section took us 1,5 hours total, so naturally we thought we'd be totally done one, two days top. But the second became harder and more dense so it took us until the end of Thursday to finish. So we thought ok probably one, two days top for the third section. Ooh la la. The third section is horrible, it takes us 2 hours for one line of vine (there are 17 per section). Today we nearly finished our 7th line (which took us two days mind you), so there's probably one, two days top left...
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He is building a septic tank for their new house by himself and asked for a little help. I like working with Reto, he's very explicit with his instructions and expectations but then meticulous in getting everything exactly right. That and he owns a steamroller.
Other than helping Reto with the "caca hole" as he refers to it, Sara and I have been doing the same thing every day, and it's getting a little tedious. Well groomed vine looks a little like a pitchfork, with one main stalk rising to the ground and then all of the healthy vine splits off about knee hight (or waist hight if you're Sara). This doesnt happen naturally and that's where we come in. We cut anything an everything that comes out of the ground that isnt the main stalk. Having trouble picturing it? Luckily I have before and after pictures:
This can take a while.
The group of vines we are working on (and have been since Wednesday) are Syras (I'll check the spelling later) on the highest point of the vineyard (right next to La Madonne if you've looked through the pictures on picasa [see the link on the right entitled "My Photos"]). They're divided into three sections. The first and lowest section took us 1,5 hours total, so naturally we thought we'd be totally done one, two days top. But the second became harder and more dense so it took us until the end of Thursday to finish. So we thought ok probably one, two days top for the third section. Ooh la la. The third section is horrible, it takes us 2 hours for one line of vine (there are 17 per section). Today we nearly finished our 7th line (which took us two days mind you), so there's probably one, two days top left...
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Gressac, Saturday
The first day
Today, we met the vintner Jean-Sebastian at 8h00 where he gave us our job of cutting away unwanted vine. Rather than explaining more, I took some before and after pictures:
After 4 hours of this, we went to Laurence's for lunch. We then had the rest of the day off, so I took a nap in the hammock overlooking the domain and took these photos I've posted.
Then we were invited for our formal welcome dinner with both of our hosts, the vintner and his wife. They made a traditional Swiss dish, which involved melting a half a wheel of cheese by putting it on this strange contraption (kind of like a kebob roaster) when heated the flat side of the cheese, then every minute or so, scrape off the melted part onto someone plate. We passed around a big bowl of boiled potatoes and it was delicious. It was great seeing them all without their work or children. 6 bottles of wine and 4 hours later we called it a night.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
After 4 hours of this, we went to Laurence's for lunch. We then had the rest of the day off, so I took a nap in the hammock overlooking the domain and took these photos I've posted.
Then we were invited for our formal welcome dinner with both of our hosts, the vintner and his wife. They made a traditional Swiss dish, which involved melting a half a wheel of cheese by putting it on this strange contraption (kind of like a kebob roaster) when heated the flat side of the cheese, then every minute or so, scrape off the melted part onto someone plate. We passed around a big bowl of boiled potatoes and it was delicious. It was great seeing them all without their work or children. 6 bottles of wine and 4 hours later we called it a night.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Wednesday
Arrival Day
We woke up, showered, ate some breakfast (baguette and peaches) and headed to the Gare de Lyon (which contrary to its name is in Paris, not Lyon). We were running a little late which caused us (sara more so than me) some stress. Then on top of it all, we found out the train we had said we'd take was full for rail pass customers. We had to sweet talk the conductor, but he agreed to let us on for the booking fee of 20 euros. We waited for him to come collect it but he never did: turns out there was a stow -away on the train which he had to arrest. We pull into Avignon, meet Lawrence, and a 40 minute car ride later we are at Gressac.
We then met the family (names to come once I learn them). First the two kids: a 4 year old boy and a 1,5 year old girl, and their French au pair. Then we drove over to the cellar to meet the husband, viniculter and their two adorable year-old golden retriever puppies. There we had some wine from the vineyard and joked around for a half hour.
Sara and I found our room, unpacked, and went over for dinner.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We then met the family (names to come once I learn them). First the two kids: a 4 year old boy and a 1,5 year old girl, and their French au pair. Then we drove over to the cellar to meet the husband, viniculter and their two adorable year-old golden retriever puppies. There we had some wine from the vineyard and joked around for a half hour.
Sara and I found our room, unpacked, and went over for dinner.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Avignon France, Tuesday
Bon Voyage and Paris
Sara and I are sitting in the Dullus airport. A man on the plane had some heart trouble so he had to be assisted off the flight by some EMTs. Then in Washington they offered for us to stay the night there, we decided e opportunity cost exceeded the marginal benefit and boarded our plan to Paris.
We arrived at 11:30, took the B line into the city and arrived at Xavier's (my Parisian friend/ foreign exchange student) around 12:30. We had lunch (stuffed tomatoes in a cream sauce over rice or in Sara's case just a cafe) at a local brasserie and emailed Xavier to let him know we hd arrived. Apparently there was some mix-up with when we were arriving so they weren't expecting us. Luckily, Xavier's brother Benjamin (try saying it with a French accent and it becomes an exponentially more entertaining name) was at the apartment to let us in. After a stroll around town and down the Champs, we met Xavier for dinner at a local restaurant at 9:30. My lamb was fantastic served over a yellow substance I couldn't identify.
The Xavier offered to take us on a driving tour of Paris. We hit most of the touristic parts but at 1:00AM we decided it was late enough and called it quits for the night.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
We arrived at 11:30, took the B line into the city and arrived at Xavier's (my Parisian friend/ foreign exchange student) around 12:30. We had lunch (stuffed tomatoes in a cream sauce over rice or in Sara's case just a cafe) at a local brasserie and emailed Xavier to let him know we hd arrived. Apparently there was some mix-up with when we were arriving so they weren't expecting us. Luckily, Xavier's brother Benjamin (try saying it with a French accent and it becomes an exponentially more entertaining name) was at the apartment to let us in. After a stroll around town and down the Champs, we met Xavier for dinner at a local restaurant at 9:30. My lamb was fantastic served over a yellow substance I couldn't identify.
The Xavier offered to take us on a driving tour of Paris. We hit most of the touristic parts but at 1:00AM we decided it was late enough and called it quits for the night.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Paris Monday
Friday, May 13, 2011
The Renaissance
Congratulations Matt in France followers! I know all of you have been checking back daily if not hourly for new updates and today, your efforts are not in vain. The main purpose of this post is to let everyone know that I will be updating here regularly, and to outline my general itinerary for yet another superlative summer.
The Plan:
May 15th at 6:00PM Sara DLT and I will board a plan for Paris (well Washington dullus where our connection will take us to Charles de Gaulle).
After 1 night with my friend Xavier in Paris, well board a train to Avignon where we'll work on an organic farm for 2 weeks. Then I'll accompany Sara to Montpellier for a few days then head to Tangiers, Morocco. There I'll stay for a few weeks interning at a local NGO. Then, it's back to Paris to meet up with mom,dad, and papa for a 10 day tour de France vacation.
It should be another memorable experience, and hopefully you'll read along with me the whole way.
Off to pack.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad (which is really cool btw)
The Plan:
May 15th at 6:00PM Sara DLT and I will board a plan for Paris (well Washington dullus where our connection will take us to Charles de Gaulle).
After 1 night with my friend Xavier in Paris, well board a train to Avignon where we'll work on an organic farm for 2 weeks. Then I'll accompany Sara to Montpellier for a few days then head to Tangiers, Morocco. There I'll stay for a few weeks interning at a local NGO. Then, it's back to Paris to meet up with mom,dad, and papa for a 10 day tour de France vacation.
It should be another memorable experience, and hopefully you'll read along with me the whole way.
Off to pack.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad (which is really cool btw)
Location:Marietta,United States
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