adventures of an american housewife in the south of france
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Hump Day: Clairette de Die

By now you all know that my lovely girlfriend Melina came to visit last weekend.  Melina is from a small village near Die, France which is about a 3 hour journey northeast of Montpellier.the beautiful ville de die - thank you google earthLike any good house guest, she came bearing a gift!  Some delicious bubbly from her hometown.bubbles!This sparkling wine, Clairette is from her cousin's best friend's...

Hump Day: Estivales

Today I'm finally going to tell you about something we've been enjoying for the last few weeks:  Estivales.  It's a weekly Summer Wine Festival that started in 2008 and takes place here in the center of town every Friday night from 6:30pm -12:30am.  Doesn't that sound awesome?!  Well, it is!  Upon entry, you pay 3€ and get 3 tasting tickets and your very own glass.  The center of town is filled with tons of...

Hump Day: Release the Kraken!

Now, where did we leave off yesterday?  Oh right!  Kraken.  We happened to find ourselves with a full bottle of Kraken as we were doing our final packing to depart from L.A. a few weeks ago.  We had bought it for Marq & Dawn's post wedding party and forgot to even take it out of the car.  We discovered it late at night when we were alone in our hotel room, completely exhausted from the weekend's events. ...

Hump Day: Wine Tasting in Pic Saint Loup

Remember when I told you how much we're digging wines from Pic Saint Loup?  Well, last weekend we decided to rent a car and head out there with a few friends to partake in our first French Wine Tasting Adventure! We chose 3 different vineyards based on our favorite wines and one recommendation from a friend.  We started off at Mas Gourdou which was definitely the highlight of the day (we peaked early).  We had...

Hump Day: Single Serve Wine

  I am the type of person that, when I open a bottle of wine, I intend to finish it.  The taste of a wine can change so quickly as it aerates and I am way too big of a snob to drink wine that was opened the night before.  This can cause a bit of a problem when The Hub is not around, because then I am often faced with the task of either having dinner without wine (gasp!) or drinking an entire bottle...

Hump Day: A Year in Provence

I'm happy to tell you that the last few days here have been much cooler than last week.  Almost San Francisco-y (awww!) so we feel right at home.  It's been the perfect weather to snuggle up on the couch with a great bottle of red wine, which has been a nice change from our rosés. Before we left for France, my friend Leslie gave me a copy of a book she read right before she moved to France:  A Year in...

Hump Day: Date Night

With the move about halfway to completion, I really felt that last night was time for a night off.  Everything's gone pretty smoothly (with the exception of a small snafu in the bed building process) but I was reaching my breaking point of unpacking and building.  Disorganization makes me absolutely crazy.  Even crazier than I already am.  When I was in college, I couldn't study in my room unless it was neat and...

Hump Day: Belgian Beer

Last Sunday, The Hub and I took a lovely stroll through the city.  It was warm and sunny and there was only one thing was missing:  commerce.  On Sundays in France, almost everything shuts down - the shops, many of the restaurants and bus routes, museums, grocery stores, you name it.   As we walked around past all the closed shop we realized that we had no choice.  It was time to go to the bar. The Hub has had...

Hump Day: Pic Saint Loup

Ladies and Gentleman, we have a winner!  After 2 weeks of searching and drinking, we have found a way to pick a red wine we know we'll like.  You probably already know this, but I'll explain again that rather than classifying their wine by Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, etc., the French differentiate by appellation like Burgandy, Bordeaux, Rhône, etc.  Check out this map below from Wine-Tour...

Hump Day: What We’ve Been Drinking

With all the craziness going on, it's been a few weeks since I've done a Hump Day post and I'm excited to bring it back!  We've been having fun with the whole drinking-during-lunch-thing they have going on here in France, and I thought that instead of focusing on one specific drink, today I'd tell you about some of the wines we've been enjoying here in Montpellier. I've shared with you our struggles with French...

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