Wine stop,

Today was a great day in many ways. I got wheels (rented) and headed out.The weather was just gorgeous for November and it just felt like spring. We are not talking about Dallas like weather, this is the southwest of France at the footsteps of the Pyrenees and November usually means chilly, dreary, damp and cold weather. I headed out to Coarraze on my way to visit family or at least let them know I was back in town (phone calls are not quite the same). On the way I truly enjoyed the sheer beauty of the snow capped mountains which I have known and learned to appreciate all my life. This is the very rural part of France that you do not get to see on the Travel Channel in the US. That took a few hours and then back to my sister. Her husband was just back from work and took me to a friend who has a farm and makes wine. Totally my kind of side trip just before dinner. Five miles out of town on little country roads and here we are, a little farm in the middle of nowhere. Small, small, small, works for me ! The guy grows grapes for Rose, red and the local sweet wine. We tasted them all and bought some of the Rose. For those of you who call themselves wine connoisseurs we are talking about Tannat, Petit Manseng and Grand Manseng grapes. The Tannat grapes are used for red and Rose wines and the Mansengs for the local sweet wine called Jurancon which we drink here with foie gras or desserts. We bought 10 liters of the Rose and the guy did not remember the price he charged last, which was 1 euro per liter or 1 dollar per 75ml. New price ? 1.50 euro .Cheap ? yes, great? maybe not, drinkable ? absolutely ! He took us to the small cellar completed with spider webs, old dust and musky smell, just the way a real cellar should look and smell. We sampled four wines and had great conversation about everything.He also gave us two liters of the Petit Manseng for free which will go great with the foie gras friday night as friends are coming for dinner, you guessed it, I am cooking. These times are precious, not staged and just cannot be bought. We made it home in one piece in time for dinner and feeling just great. Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh !

Stay tuned, I just got here.