Wednesday, July 4, 2012

June 23-25, 2012: The Famer's Market, a day off, and learning about wine!


On Saturday, we took a tour of the Cluny Farmer’s market, which I was the most excited to see before I came onto this trip. I love going to farmers markets! The amount of beautiful and fresh fruits, vegetables, cheeses, and meats that were available were astounding! 

 Goat cheese! On the left are goat cheese tarts which were so good.


 Chickens roasting. Additionally, at the bottom of the roaster, they cooked potatoes, where they would cook in the chicken drippings. YUM.

 White asparagus: This is very popular in Europe (especially Germany). I've heard of it before, but I've never seen it!
 The largest meringue I've ever seen! And it was delicious, too!
Such beautiful vegetables!!

Besides produce, cheese, and meat stands, they had many other stands for clothing, jewelry, and accessories. I enjoyed the farmer’s market though not only for what we could buy, but I saw how much it was a part of bringing the people of Cluny and other surrounding towns together. I saw many people meeting up with friends and socializing in addition to buying their produce and other foods. It is something that I haven’t experienced all too much in America, and I really enjoyed watching people interact with each other. The class and I bought many cheeses, fruits, and vegetables for a picnic later that day, and I also used the opportunity to buy some souvenirs for my family. 
 
On Sunday, we had a free day. Most of the class decided to go for a bike ride to Chateau de Cormatin. However, I decided to use the opportunity to catch up on some sleep and to take it easy. I decided to read for a little bit in the morning, and visit the museum in the afternoon again. I forgot my camera when we went the first time, so I went back to take pictures, which is in my blog post from June 18-19. I also explored the shops that were open, including the chocolate shop, which was stunning. Everything looked delicious, and the scent of the shop was divine. I bought myself a pastry called a ping pong, which was filled with chocolate mousse and topped with cocoa. It was so good! 
 Marzipan in the window of the chocolate shop. How cute!!!
 Mmmmmm...ping pong.

On Monday, we had class where we learned more in depth about wine. We discussed the yeast involved, alcoholic fermentation, the differences between white and red wine, and malolactic fermentation. I’ll spare the details since some of it can be complicated, but overall, it was very interesting to see how everything comes together to make drink that has been essential for centuries for many cultures. After visiting Domaine Perraud, it was good to learn more in depth about the processes and the fermentation see the the classroom connecting with real life processes that we were fortunate to see earlier in our trip.

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