Beaujolais: a Joyful Afternoon

Last Saturday, my UCEAP group had the pleasure of visiting a farm/vineyard in the Beaujolais region of France. For those of you who are as ignorant as me of French regions, Beaujolais is shown on this map. As as Wikipedia tells me, it is an area of France to the north of Lyon. It only took us 45 minutes by bus to get there.

After we arrived on the scene of this charming farmhouse, we were greeted by the couple who owns the vineyard. They were so sweet and gave us a quick history of their lives and their vineyard; they both grew up in the rural Beaujolais region and studied agriculture in school. There was also the cutest dog. He kind of looked like a huge rag; he was so scruffy but adorable and everyone was instantly distracted.

The vineyards! 

A little cute pathway within the yard

Francisco with the dog. Look how cute the dog is!

After the talk, they led us into the "cave" which is a big wine cellar, where we had a huge French-style lunch. We started off with apértifs—we tried their rosé and homemade bread, along with a light salad, terrine (kind of similar to foie gras) and a tartine (slice of toasted bread and cheese). Next, the man explained to us the pleasure of doing a real wine tasting. He talked about tasting the scents underneath the wine—fruity, spicy, floral—and explained how these scents should remind you of a memory close to your heart. He also talked about the legs and color of the wine in the light. We, then, went back outside where Marie (the lady!) showed us the loaves of bread that she had been letting rise and she showed us the grand oven that she puts them in. Afterwards we returned to the cave and our lunch, with the promise that the meal would end with an "interactive" portion, in which we would be able to take the bread out of the oven!

The next leg of the meal was the main dish: some type of beef stew with potatoes and (more) bread! The French eat a lot of bread and use it to sop up their dishes. This part of the meal was accompanied by one of their vineyard's red wine. After this course, we went back out and got to help Marie take out the loaves of bread. I used a large spatula thing and successfully retrieved three loaves. Finally, we went back for dessert. We drank a dessert wine which was very sweet and ate small pieces of sugar brioche bread, shortbread cookies, and a bar-type thing with chocolate chips in it. The meal was finished off with a small cup of espresso. All in all, it was a lavish meal.

La dégustation du vin (the wine tasting)

Friends at our lovely lunch table-I look a litttle loopy.

The bread before it went in the oven!

Wine and jam for sale

Entrance to the cave where we ate

The bread makes its way out of the oven!

Afterwards, we got to take home a loaf of the bread that Marie made on the spot and her husband moved us to a different room where he explained to us the process of wine making, and he showed us wine all in varied states of readiness. Lastly, we did what any normal college student would do and took tons of pictures in the vineyard. The lighting was so perfect, as it was almost dusk, and we all frolicked (or if you are me, moved about much less gracefully) through the vineyard. Then, we bussed home, groggy and tired from all the food.

pretty friends

just hanging in the French countryside

More friends!

YAY <3 

Beaujolais!

I really loved this excursion with EAP and I am very happy that this lovely couple let a huge group of Californian college students crash their vineyard; they were so welcoming I felt right at home! Till next time Beaujolais.