To the South of France!

A friend of mine. Marianne, and her husband belong to a wine tasting club in town. Back in February Bill and I attended a group lunch and Marianne mentioned to her husband that she wanted to go on the French wine tasting trip the leader was planning and her husband said he'd figure it out at work so that he'd be the main care-taker of their three girls so that she could go on the trip. I happened to overhear this conversation and said, "Want someone to go with you? I'd go!" And just like that I invited myself on a week-long wine tasting trip to the South of France. 

Somewhere in the Spanish Pyrenees

There were 18 of us on the trip, add in the bus driver and group leader, 20 people in total. 19 of us flew down to Barcelona where we met the bus (driver left a few days early and drove there via ferry), drove over the Pyrenees, and landed in the Languedoc region in Southern France, near the Spanish boarder. 

Le Cote Bleue

We stayed at that hotel, right on the water for four nights and spent three days exploring the region and wine tasting at small, (mostly) family-run wineries. The tour leader is a wine expert who used to have a restaurant, then a wine importing business. He had personal relationships with all of the wineries and each place treated us to a tour, wine tasting, and often food. 

Hotel at Le Cote Bleue

Once we arrived at the hotel, Marianne and I dropped off our stuff and took a little walk along the beach to check out the small village. 

Beach near Le Cote Blue

It was warm, but not hot. The ocean breeze was lovely, and it was a terrific start to what would end up being an amazing week. 

Beach near Le Cote Blue

The first of many bottles of delicious wine! 

White dinner wine

Red dinner wine

And the first of many, many delicious meals!