Summer is winding down but the weather has stayed quite warm giving me a few more beach days. I went twice this past week thinking each time would be the last. It was really very delightful - the crowds have thinned and the water is absolutely the perfect temperature. I'm thinking that I may have a few more days of this paradise yet.
T
This is the place I usually go as it is directly south from here and easy to park with quick access to the beach. The last day I went the man who runs the "Bounty" asked where I was from and was thrilled when I told him I was an American from San Francisco. He said he spent 6 months there with a friend quite a few years ago and stayed in an apartment on Divisidero.
The main event in Abeilhan right now is the vendange (grape harvest). It is really at its peak - especially in the morning. There are all manner of vehicles towing trailers going out to the vineyards and returning with full loads. The local coop is a block from "my house" so it is pretty noisey with all the traffic going by the house.
Here are some vines that haven't been picked yet.
And these have been picked clean.
There is also a touch of fall in the air. You can tell by the slant of the sun and a few leaves are beginning to turn and fall.
I recently gained a new skill. As I've mentioned before the best oysters in France come from very close by here. They are absolutely the best I've ever had and are SO FRESH. Yesterday there was a stand outside the Servian supermarket. I'd recently checked the Internet to see the proper procedure for shucking an oyster. I also discovered that Mel & Sharon's kitchen had the special shucking tool. So I bought some huitres and gave it ago. It did require some strength and I was very careful but I am now an experienced oyster shucker.
Yesterday my friend Deb who lives in Bize Minervois invited me to come to her weekly lunch bunch. We went to a restaurant near her town. The group was apparently bigger than usual and we were seated at one long table, so I didn't get to get to know everyone. Those that I did, I enjoyed very much.
This is the place I usually go as it is directly south from here and easy to park with quick access to the beach. The last day I went the man who runs the "Bounty" asked where I was from and was thrilled when I told him I was an American from San Francisco. He said he spent 6 months there with a friend quite a few years ago and stayed in an apartment on Divisidero.
The main event in Abeilhan right now is the vendange (grape harvest). It is really at its peak - especially in the morning. There are all manner of vehicles towing trailers going out to the vineyards and returning with full loads. The local coop is a block from "my house" so it is pretty noisey with all the traffic going by the house.
Here is the coop.
Below you can see the harvest being unloaded. It is all the reds now.
Here are some vines that haven't been picked yet.
And these have been picked clean.
There is also a touch of fall in the air. You can tell by the slant of the sun and a few leaves are beginning to turn and fall.
I recently gained a new skill. As I've mentioned before the best oysters in France come from very close by here. They are absolutely the best I've ever had and are SO FRESH. Yesterday there was a stand outside the Servian supermarket. I'd recently checked the Internet to see the proper procedure for shucking an oyster. I also discovered that Mel & Sharon's kitchen had the special shucking tool. So I bought some huitres and gave it ago. It did require some strength and I was very careful but I am now an experienced oyster shucker.
Yesterday my friend Deb who lives in Bize Minervois invited me to come to her weekly lunch bunch. We went to a restaurant near her town. The group was apparently bigger than usual and we were seated at one long table, so I didn't get to get to know everyone. Those that I did, I enjoyed very much.
The food was good and I ordered escargots for my main course which did seem a bit odd. They were cooked in a tomato sauce - rather like you get here on mussels. The amount of snails was huge and I could only eat about half of them. I think with escargots - a little goes a long way!
I had meant to take a picture of the group and was preparing to do so as we were leaving but there was a big commotion and we saw several "pompier" (fire department) vehicles and police right outside the restaurant. We also saw that Nic's car (Deb's sister) was about to be ticketed. We didn't know where we had parked wasn't legal - but seeing that the fire trucks couldn't get by told why it was.
Not sure the nature of the emergency but the pompiers were putting on their gear.
Not sure the nature of the emergency but the pompiers were putting on their gear.
No comments:
Post a Comment