One evening we tied up on the bank of the canal in the village of Argens-Minervois. On the tow path beside the boat some old men were playing an intense game of Pétanque, a few other villagers were around watching the sport.
Across the canal was the local wine cooperative. A couple of tractors with trailers full of grapes drove up to the winery to unload. About a half a dozen young folks in their late teens or early twenties were crammed into a little car following the tractor. When they got out they were stained purple, their arms, shirts, trousers along with some streaks on their faces. Most wandered off after milling about socializing, while a couple helped shovel the grapes onto the elevator. We watched this process in awe, parts of it were like stepping back in time.
When their work was completed we made our way to the winery, the lady who had driven the tractor was still on site and putting things in order. I asked if they had wine for sale. “But of course”, she spoke English well. We followed her into the wine cave, it was almost as one would expect, dark, damp, but instead of the wine being laid up in bottles in racks, there were cases upon cases scattered around and wine barrels lined the walls with taps sticking out of them. After moving things around so that we could see the wine they had to offer, I had a chance to ask some questions. The first on my mind was who uses the casks along the wall. “Some of the people who contribute grapes just come here to refill when they are ready for wine that is reserved for them.”
We didn’t fit into that category, so we just looked at the bottles they had available for sale. The bottles weren’t dusty they were protected in cardboard cases, most were the usual GSM blends so common in the Laugnedoc region, but they also had a cabernet that had been aged for a couple of years. We chose a couple of wines including the cabernet and returned to the boat to enjoy them with dinner.
The dinner that night turned out to be perfect. It was to be our last night on the canal, we had to turn in the boat the next day. It was a simple dinner, we made a red sauce from some tomatoes we had picked up from the local market along with vegetables, mushrooms and meat that would need to be eaten before the end of the trip. This along with the last of our pasta, bread and wine made an excellent meal.
I think cooking and eating meals are part of what connects us. While I enjoy eating out and being introduced to new cuisines of other cultures, it’s not the same kind of companionship as can be found at your own table. So we do both, eating out to get introduced to the local specialties, and eating in for good company.
Part of the joy of cooking while traveling in Europe was the opportunity and challenge cooking of with the fresh foods that are available at the market. In the Markets I found foods that are in season and of the highest quality. Because of there seasonal nature of the markets, we had to cook with what was available at the time, but the reward was freshness.
A last comment about the galley on our rental boat, its small which is to be expected, but it was equipped well and had every thing necessary to cook with. When my parents had their 50th wedding anniversary we rented a house on the beach on the outer banks of North Carolina. It was a VRBO advertised as having a gourmet kitchen. While it did have a Wolfe Range, a Sub-Zero fridge and a crab steamer, it didn’t actually have all of the tools needed for cooking. It’s obvious that the French understand and have an appreciation of cooking good food.
*****
This is the end of the sixth installment in the ongoing series that details our introduction to river cruising on the European waterways and to our purchase and outfitting of our own boat to for travel and living in Europe. If you are interested in being notified of future installment releases, Subscribe to this series in the sidebar on the right.
If you missed the Previous installments they can be found under the category “A New Adventure-Series”