Apple Pie

The weed battle continues. I have spent most of the last week and a half weeding anything and everything you can think of (aided by my new iPod Nano - Thanks JEN!). I weeded the garden, the roses and the area around the main water spigot. I also scraped, scooped and carted away loads of broken clay tiles that blew off of the roofs and broke in an intense winter storm in January. But after all of the "désherbage" came the throw of the gauntlet. I was told, since I was the best WWOOFer chef they had ever had (after my Jambalaya preparation) that I should make Apple Crumble (Apple Crisp) for them. I told them that Apple Crumble was really more British and that the truly American item was Apple Pie. They wanted to test and compare both of them. So I set about making a pan of each one. Quite interesting to try and figure out how much flour, butter, etc. to use and also to figure out temperatures in Celsius! The resulting creations were scarfed down quickly by all, and even Bernard proclaimed the Apple Pie the winner.

On Wednesday, several new WWOOFers. a couple from Maryland, came to La Sabine. Aaron and Jenny are traveling Europe for 71 days, I believe. They came from Morocco and Spain. It was nice to have some English speakers around. Bertrand always did his best to speak English, but it was a challenge for him to explain my myriad questions. I'm not sure if it was a going away trip for me, or just restlessnes on Bertrand's part, but on Thursday, we worked all morning and then took off for a road trip - Bertrand, Aaron, Jenny, Nicolas and myself. We headed south into the heart of Cathar country, stopping for some pictures of a Chateau perched upon a mountaintop. Eventually we reached Cucugnan, where we ate lunch at a small café (boy was that Affligem tasty!) and headed up to Château de Quéribus. This is a place that is perched upon a rocky peak and seemingly impossible to reach. In fact, it was the last Cathar stronghold to fall, holding out until 1255. As an advance lookout for Château de Peyrepertuse, it helped to guard the frontier between Catalonie and Occitanie from the 13th to the 17th Century. The view from the extreme height is impressive, affording an unparalled view of both Corbieres and Roussillon. Next stop was for a tasting at a winery in Roussillon - Mas Amiel. I was eagerly anticipating the visit, as Rousillon wine is relatively rare in the Twin Cities. In addition to traditional dry red wines, Mas Amiel produces red and white sweet wines, in addition to oxidized sweet red wines. For the latter, some of the wine if placed in large glass carboys and placed in the sun for a year or so. This wine, mixed with sweet wine that is not oxidized, creates a blend that is mind-blowing. It has the taste of Madiera mixed with the taste of dried fruits. Absolutely amazing, although admittedly not in most Americans taste lexicon. I couldn't leave without buying a few bottles (one in particular that is destined for TO). The next stop (after some impressive French traffic jams [incidentally, a great place to learn French cuss words] was the city of Banyuls. Located mere kilometers from Spain and on the Mediterranean coast, Banyuls is a lovely town and an AOC within Roussillon. The vines stretch all of the way to the sea and are exceptionally picturesque. We strolled the sea and bought fresh cherries, melons and apricots from a vendor. Dinner was procured at a cute harborside café. I had moules gratinée and monkfish with some local rosé. A beatiful ending to a beautiful day. Thursday brought a huge rack of ribs grilled over vine coals and a bottle of Mas Amiel (Le Plaisir Blanc) that I provided as an aperitif. Topped off by a showing of The Princess Bride and all was well with the world.

This morning I washed my clothes, dryed them on the line and proceeded to see if I could, again, fit everything into my 2 bags. After a 5 week stay at Chateau la Sabine, it had started to feel like home. But time is like a river, and I needed to float on with it. Bertrand, Aaron and Jenny all accompanied me to Lezignan to catch the train (which turned out to be a bus) to Narbonne. That's where I currently am, writing this entry. I managed to stagger down the street a mile or so and get to a quant cafe where I had the largest pot of mussels for lunch that I've ever seen (Narbonne is right on the Med). I couldn't help but wash them down with a local bottle of rosé Syrah. Tonight, I board the bus for a 13 1/2 hour ride to Madrid. If I survive, you'll see more posts from Spain! A bientot!