So this past weekend was our third and last excursion through The Institute. We went to the small village of Carpentras for a day full of delicious "desgustations" (tastings!). Our first stop was to a candy store that makes their own Berlingots, the candy born in Carpentras that all French know and love. They are just little peices of hard candy, but they have a distinct shape and are quite delicious. We got to watch them make a batch and it was like being in an episode of Good Eats on the food network! They pour boiling hot sugar goo onto a marble slab and toss it around until its cooled off a bit. Then they take a little piece out and stretch it over a hook until it turns white. Then they take the stretched piece and create a little pattern on the still hot sugar blob, roll up the blob and put it through a machine that stretches it into a long rope. It's when they cut this rope that they get their unique shape. Needless to say, we got to eat many a free Berlingots, fresh from the blob stretcher. Delicious.
Warm goo
Making the pattern
Through the stretcher
Warm candies for us!
They gave us some time to explore Carpentras and dropped us off at a little open air market. It was a normal French market, full of delicious foods and fun things to buy. A bunch of us took the opportunity to nap in the grass after lunch because it was so warm.
Olives galore!
The view of the market from across the bridge
We then headed over to a very odd museum about the production of bird calls since the 19th century. It was really weird at first but then when the owner started demonstrating the bird calls it was kind of amazing. He was really good!
The next stop was the Nougat manufacturers. Nougat in France is not the unknown crunchy substance in your snickers. Here it is a gourmet candy and it is DELICIOUS. We ate so much freaking Nougat at that place. Basically its almonds mixed with honey and caramel spread over a flat surface to cool until its a crunchy treat. They also let us taste their Nougat made with egg whites witch is more similar to nougat in candy bars at home. There was a huge plate of Nougat in front of us and we all just kept eating and eating. So good.
Last in our tasting adventure was a visit to "la cave". I don't know the exact translation, but its the French word for where wine is distilled and sold. We got to go deep into la cave and see the giant barrels of grape juice turning into wine. It was pretty awesome actually to see all the machinery that squishes the grapes and transports the juice to all the different parts of the cave. Naturally we got a wine tasting afterwards. They lets us taste their white, rose and two red wines. The white was too sweet for me, but the rose was a dry rose so it wasn't too sweet. The first red was almost spicy and really dark, so it was too much for me to handle and I didn't like it at all, but the last was the best by far.
Giant tubs of wine
in the depths of la Cave
wine tasting! yum!
So as of today, Tuesday, I have exactly two weeks left in France. I can't believe its over already, I feel like I just got here. On the other hand, I've made some really great friends, and I can't believe it only took us a few months to get to know each other. We are all sad we have to go back to nasty American bread, expensive organic food and restaurants that hurry you away after you're done eating. We are also, obviously, going to miss living in an ancient town surrounded by ancient ramparts with an ancient palace right in the middle of it. This city is so gorgeous, and the pedestrian streets are so cute, I'm really going to feel uncomfortable in the loud SUV filled streets of America.
Of course on the other hand, I am SOOOO excited to go home and see everyone! I also miss my kitty and my guitar so badly. I'm probably not even going to be able to sleep on the seven hour plane ride home because I'll just be too excited thinking about all the people I get to see finally! So in a nutshell, I wish I didn't have to leave, but I can't wait to be back. My friend recently said "I don't know if I'm leaving home or going home" and thats exactly how I feel. Basically I just hope I can come back here sooner than later, because I love France. I love the people, I love the food, I love their way of life. Vive la France!!!
Place d'Horloge on a busy spring afternoon
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