Windy Saturday

You may already know this, but in case you don't here in the Rhône there's a wind called the mistral, which blows down from the north. It blows at all times of the year, it can be warm or cold, and it's generally pretty strong. Today's the first day we've had it since I've been here, so it's very windy outside. Not knocking-trees-over windy, but definitely no-eating-outside windy. The other major effect of the mistral is that it blows all the clouds out to the ocean, so it makes for a stunningly clear day. I took a walk in the hills after lunch and took some pictures. Hopefully this gives a bit of an idea just how bloody windy it can get.





Luc and Lucienne took me to eat at a restaurant in Mouriés last night, a beautiful place that unfortunately wasn't that busy. If I understood correctly it was formerly a farmhouse, there was a large open patio in the front for seating, and a lounge and a few smaller rooms inside for private parties. The lounge/great room was formerly the garage for the larger farm equipment. We all had the same tasting menu, it was all in French so I wasn't entirely sure what I'd be getting, but the words I did recognize sounded fine, and Luc and Lucienne seemed to have great confidence in the chef. Unfortunately I didn't notice that the first course was melon-based, so it wasn't exactly my favorite thing. There was a diced mixture of fennel, melon, and celery root with olive oil, and a little drink of a melon puree. The main course was quite good, grilled beef, mashed potatoes that were mixed with a lime confit that was awesome, and which I totally want to try making when I get home, and crayfish. Dessert was tiramisu, but a more liquid version than I'm used to. It was served in a glass, rather than like a cake, the top layer was a chantilly cream aromatized with rosemary, which was awesome. The rosemary scent was very subtle, but gave a regional authenticity, what with all the rosemary that grows wild around here. Below the cream were peaches, a kind of custard, and a cookie on the bottom. All in all an excellent meal, and very kind of Luc and Lucienne to take me, despite the fact that I'm running low on clothing and must have looked an ass going out to eat in a Simpsons t-shirt.
Oh, also at dinner I found out that pineapple tomatillos (in French, physalliz) are common around here. The restaurant was serving them as a garnish on one of their cocktails.









Today is a lazy day for work, there is no more grape-picking until monday. I got to sleep late, eat breakfast, and just did the rémontage with Éve, which only took about an hour and a half.











Later this afternoon she's taking me to someplace which, if I understand correctly, is an old quarry that became a cathedral, and is now used to show artwork, and they're
showing Picasso paintings, so that should be super-cool.

Last night I also learned an interesting fact about the olive trees in this area. When I first arrived I noticed that a lot of the olive trees seemed to be planted in this funny circular formation, with anywhere from 3 to 6 trees to a group, like you can see here.
Apparently it's not what it looks like. There was a major freeze here in 1956, and almost all of the olive trees, most of which were very old already at the time, froze all the way to the ground. However, they didn't die. That spring they began sending shoots up from the ground, and since the root systems were already established, the farmers figured just let 'em grow, so now the olive groves all look like this, with what look like little clusters of trees, but in fact each cluster is one tree, most of which are at least a hundred years old.