France...at last!

Hello all!  I've been here in France now for a week or so, and all is well.

I should never believe what you hear about air travel.  Anticipating long delays, due to my one way ticket, I arrived at the Humphrey Terminal, care of Tim O., three hours before my flight.  Upon reaching the counter I did have a minor scare when the agent called a supervisor over to inquire as to whether my one way ticket was OK.  She replied that as long as I wasn’t staying in Iceland, it was fine.  I guess they don’t want any new residents in Iceland!  I checked my two bags (the one coming in exactly at the weight limit) and headed to security.  There was no line and I breezed right on through.  I then had 2 ¾ hours to kill in the airport.  I bought a book and proceeded to read for the next several hours.  Boarding was smooth and we took off on time.  In spite of it being almost 8:00, I wasn’t the slightest bit tired.  I ended up reading my book all of the way to Iceland.  We disembarked the plane and headed through immigration.  They didn’t ask me a thing…they just looked at my passport and stamped it.  An hour later we were in the air again, headed to Paris.  Sleep again eluded me, but I finished my book (and left it on the plane for a new reader).  Upon landing in Paris, I started to dread my trip to the train station…it was raining.  After claiming my two bags, I was on the bus to Paris, which deposited me at Gare de Lyon…a short distance across the Seine from Gare d’Austerlitz, the station from which I would depart Paris.  My fears about my bags being a lot to handle were confirmed.  I’m quite sure I shrunk an inch under the weight of them.  I stumbled toward the bridge, and just as I headed out into the open, the skies opened up and it started to pour.  Ahh…May in Paris.  I made it to the other side and camped out under a small grove of trees to wait it out.  Half an hour later I continued my trek to the station and finally made it to the ticket counter.  Rail strike.  Train cancelled.  Luckily, the woman at the counter was able to find a non-direct route south for me that was still running.  And it left in only 7 hours.  I thought about stowing my luggage and heading out to see a bit of the city, but ended up parking myself at the station café instead.  Several carafes later, I realized I needed to let my first hosts know that I would be into the station later than expected.  Internet was only available to those who already had an account, so I decided to make a phone call instead.  Luckily, Bernard answered, as he speaks a bit of English!  I informed him of the situation and he was not concerned in the least.  Several hours later, I boarded the train, reclined my seat and settled in for a long, restless night amongst the other travelers.  Turns out the French can snore as well as Americans.  I can’t tell you a thing about what most of the scenery looked like, but it was beautiful when the first light started to illuminate the country outside the window.   A quick change in Toulouse to the slow train (which stopped at every small city or station possible) and I soon found myself stepping off at my destination…Lezignan-Corbieres.  Catherine (Bernard’s wife) was waiting for me and we stuffed my very large bags into every nook and cranny available in her little car.  The ride was full of silence and wonder…she spoke almost no English, but the scenery that awaited me held my attention.  The Pyrenees could be seen far off in the distance, with beautiful green mountains in the foreground.  The mountains were covered with lush green trees and scrub brush with liberal sections of craggy outcroppings.  20 minutes later we turned up the drive to Chateau  la Sabine.

La Sabine is a beautiful, wind-swept vineyard in the middle of Corbieres.  It is home to Catherine and Bernard Mallent, their children Maëlle (18) and Nicolas (14), 4 cats, 2 dogs, 2 donkeys, a horse and many chickens, ducks and guinea hens.  It occupies 20 hectares (about 50 acres) and consists of vines, pasture and gardens.  For the first week, there were two other WWOOFers here - Melanie and Jane, two 19 year old girls from New York.  They left today, so it is now very quiet!

The work has been hard, but interesting.  The first day we went to the edge of the pasture to harvest bamboo (no Home Depot here!) to use in making a tomato trellis.  The next several days were spent weeding the rose bushes.  They were firmly ensconced in a filed of grass and weeds that often reached chest high.  Hot, dirty, tiring work.  But the roses look great now.  Yesterday and today have been spent training vines.  Some vines can just grow up as they like and some need to be trained between wires.  Yesterday we did the Syrah and today I am working on the Carignan.

Everything isn't all work here, though.  On Sunday, we had the day off and went to a fair in Lezignan.  Booths setup with homemade sausages/meats, wines and olive oil to taste, trout to catch in the pond, and music!  The bands were hilarious.  One played bagpipes that looked like small stuffed sheep and another (bandes) was from the rugby/bull fighting circuit.  The night we  headed off to Gruissan for the street party.  Live bands, beer, dancing...all in the narrow streets of the heart of town.  Bertrand, who had driven us there, was too drunk to drive home.  So I took the wheel and piloted his Renault the 30 miles home through the fog and darkness.

Well there ou have it...a rather disjointed, poorly written account of my first week in France.  A bientot!