FRANCE

Where are you right now? Which country did you just see again? These are questions I get quite a lot and it doesn’t surprise me as I do tend to fall off the planet every now and again. I was a bit shocked to discover how long it had been since my last blog post. How did that even happen? I guess I was too busy traveling, A LOT. Sharing images of my travels through Instagram seems so much easier when you’re spending not more than two or three nights at the same location. Time for a personal update!

So the very last post of French wines week, it has been a great ride. To close off the week I would like to introduce you to a couple hotspots in Avignon which are worthwhile your visit. Avignon is a medium large city in the south of France and has great cafes, restaurants and shopping. France has a much bigger restaurant culture than us since it is apparently also not very common to hang around in the bar all night. I had dinner in one of the most delicious restaurants, L’Essentiel.

As I told you yesterday, my trip to the south of France was all about wine. They say that a wine grower doesn’t grow grapes, he grows wine. So what’s so special about growing wine you ask? When visiting the area it becomes very clear that wine making really is a labor of love. It takes a big investment of money and especially time. For example, it takes a farmer several years before he can even make living out of it’s new plants, they have to wait approximately 4 years for the vines to be strong enough. In some winemaking cooperatives (where farmers join forces to produce the wine) they even have to wait until the wine that is delivered gets sold to the end customer. They often say that one plants its vineyards not for himself but for his grandchildren.