Last week, most of the Simmons community took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday by traveling home to see their families and enjoying a delicious meal. Here in Paris, Thanksgiving is less apparent - I still plan a meal with close friends, but I do have to work that day. In addition, some of the staples are hard to come by - cranberries, sweet potatoes, and canned pumpkin to make the pie.
Thankfully, however, there is an annual event during the third weekend of November that I have to look forward to: the wine fair! The Salon des Vignerons Independents, or Independent Winemakers Expo, is usually held the weekend after Thanksgiving at Paris' largest expo center - Porte de Versailles.
The best part about this event, besides sampling any and every kind of French grape-made alcohol you could imagine, is that you can actually talk with the folks who've made the stuff. Winemakers and their families travel around the country twice a year to participate in the fair, where they will let you taste their wines and answer questions about their products.
The expo center is organized into 20 alleys (A-T) and each winemaker has their own alley and stand number. The armagnac that we buy, for example, was at stand M-43.
The photo below is a quick look at alley M. The colors marking the stand names denote different regions, as everything is all mixed together!
We left the fair a happy couple. Among the ten bottles we purchased are some champagne, jura, armagnac, merlot, and côtes du rhone. And with that, my holiday gift shopping has officially begun!
Thankfully, however, there is an annual event during the third weekend of November that I have to look forward to: the wine fair! The Salon des Vignerons Independents, or Independent Winemakers Expo, is usually held the weekend after Thanksgiving at Paris' largest expo center - Porte de Versailles.
The best part about this event, besides sampling any and every kind of French grape-made alcohol you could imagine, is that you can actually talk with the folks who've made the stuff. Winemakers and their families travel around the country twice a year to participate in the fair, where they will let you taste their wines and answer questions about their products.
The expo center is organized into 20 alleys (A-T) and each winemaker has their own alley and stand number. The armagnac that we buy, for example, was at stand M-43.
The photo below is a quick look at alley M. The colors marking the stand names denote different regions, as everything is all mixed together!
We left the fair a happy couple. Among the ten bottles we purchased are some champagne, jura, armagnac, merlot, and côtes du rhone. And with that, my holiday gift shopping has officially begun!
That was the best part about visiting France! All the delicious wines, cheeses and breads! I attend wine tastings on a regular basis here in Atlanta and I hae tasted annual wine festivals in Florida. What a treat!
Cheers!
I'm enjoying your blog, which allows me to travel vicariously...though I hope to do some real traveling in the near future! Keep writing.
:)Alisa
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I like wines especially the white wine for they are really good especially when incorporated white chicken fricassee. I just can't resist that temptation! . I look forward for your next article.I am Jenny, a college girl and I like this article and it will be posted on http://www.universityloveconnection.com.
wow! that is such a long line of wines! i wish i have been there during the fair. nice post and interesting site you have here.