5:28 am & still awake

studying for midterms? no, those are over.
getting up for an early flight? no, not until tuesday.
loud partying in the apartment? no, everyone is gone and it's eerily quiet now.

For some reason, I can't fall asleep tonight. Maybe it's the fact that my sleeping pattern has taken a drastic turn this week (two all-nighters) and naps squeezed in the midst of everything that was going on.

Pretty much all of the Americans left for their vacation destinations this morning. :( It's quiet now. TOO quiet. I have the next few days to finish some personal business at home and for my next co-op in South Africa. I also plan on exploring Lyon a bit more outside of my usual places. I did a little research and found the little Soho of Lyon so that will be my destination tomorrow. Today, rather...

The upcoming week is my break off from class. I will be going up to Paris on Tuesday to meet Yuna. And then we will go to Italy on Thursday for five days. We have everything booked so it's becoming a little more real. ITALY! I'm really excited. I can't wait to try authentic Italian food and to see all of the sights. This break fell in at a perfect point of my experience. Midterms were a little draining and the weather is getting chillier, so an escape to a warm and culturally inviting environment is much needed.

My wine consumption has increased significantly this past week. On Sunday, we took a trip to Beaujolais with some of the CEFAM staff and with Daniellle, our Northeastern study abroad advisor. We started off with a tour at the Georges Duboeuf vineyard (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Duboeuf). He is one of the largest wine merchants from the Beaujolais region and is actually dubbed le roi du Beaujolais (the king of Beaujolais). His wines can be found in the United States and they are apparently very popular and affordable. We watched a 3-D show and a cute little play about the origins/methods of wine-making. We also fell upon a room with barrels upon barrels of wine - it seemed endless. For a few hours, I felt like I was back in the states because our tour guide was English-speaking and the shows were also in English. But when lunch time hit, I remembered where I was because we did not rush at all and we took our sweet time conversing instead. We even missed a train ride out to the vineyard because we went over our planned lunch time by an hour, more or less. The wines I tried at Georges Duboeuf were mainly reds and were excellent. Although, I found a new level of admiration for white wines after trying the Macon-Villages 2006. It was lighter and more flavorful than the ones I've tried previously. It was my favorite from the Duboeuf vineyard. The next two places we went to were independent and privately-owned vineyards. The first one was interesting because we tried two of the same wines, but a year apart (Corclette - red wine). There was a distinguishable difference between what the 2005 and what the 2004 tasted like. I preferred the younger wine. The 2004 wine was a bit heavier and stronger. But it's just a matter of personal preference. The next and last place we went to was called a "caveau" and it was placed in the most charming little village. We stayed indoors for a few hours to try more wine and to eat some more (they love feeding us sausages, cheese, and bread with wine). I made a few purchases here - two reds and one white (Régnié 2006 and Viré Clessé 2006). I'm glad I waited for the last vineyard because those ended up being my favorites of the day. After everyone made their purchases and took a few more sips of their wine, a few of us snuck out to take a peek outside. The weather that day was absolutely gorgeous. The skies were really blue and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. We bumped into two groups who went out before us and they told us to check out two different spots. We were torn so we ended up running to both places. The view was beautiful. I don't think words or pictures can do it justice. The autumn colors were vivid, the ambiance was priceless, and it wrapped up the trip perfectly.

When I'm older, I plan on owning a little vineyard. =)

And then yesteday evening, instead of having our usual French culture class, we went to a wine cellar called Vins & Vignes. Unlike the Beaujolais experience, we were able to taste AND learn about the art of wine tasting. I thoroughly enjoyed Beaujolais and all of the tastings, but I felt like we were just given the wines most of the time instead of learning about its background and how it was made. The man who spoke to us about wine tasting yesterday really knew his stuff. He is the epitome of a wine connoisseur from what I've seen in France so far. He told us about how wine tasting is a three step process. Eyes. Nose. Mouth. You start off with examining the color and consistency of the wine. Is it dark? Is it clear? Is it thick? Do the "legs" fall down quickly or slowly? I learned that the darker the red wine, the younger it is...the faster the "legs" fall down, the heavier it is...and there is actually a difference in color of white wines. A lot of detailed attention, but very informative. In case you're interested, I jotted down a lot of notes about the different wines we tried. I will star the ones that I liked most.

1) Bourgogne-Hautes Hautes Côtes de Beaune 2006. (white chardonnay) : Goes well with fish without cream. Goes well with broth based sauces. It had a light flavor and a really subtle licorice/spicy taste.
2) * Pouilly-Fuissé 2005 (white chardonnay from Burgundy) : The man claimed this was a typical example of Chardonnay wine. "The greatest white wine is from Burgundy." This bottle also sells for about $80 in the states. It was a little thicker than the latter white wine but I liked it a lot. It goes well with fish, scallops, prawns, and scampi (seafood, basically).
3) Saint-Joseph 2006 (red from the Valley du Rhône) : This wine is often found in menus and is hardly bad. It is made from 100% Syrah grapes and is one of the rare wines that goes straight from the ground to the bottle (meaning there is no oak barrel serving as the intermediary). It had a really natural, woody taste and the alcohol wasn't very apparent. It goes well with appetizers and red meats.
4) * Crozes-Hermitage 2005 (also a red from the Valley du Rhône) : This one was made 40 minutes south of Lyon in Valence. It is also made from 100% Syrah grapes and has been in reservoirs and barrels for 12 months before being bottled. They called this wine "organic." It is good for 10 years. It goes well with anti-pasta (not the chips/peanuts type of appetizers, but thinly sliced meats and olives. etc.) and red meats like steak. I don't know if it's because they called this organic, but I preferred this one over the Saint-Joseph. I LOVED it.
5) Tawny Porto Niepoort (a Portuguese fortified wine. Reims, France) : 20% alcohol content compared to the 12% in wine. The smell was really intense but the taste was actually sweet and really good. It is often served as a dessert wine. It goes well with cheese like Roquefort, blue cheeses, Brie, and Camembert.

I am really enjoying all of these opportunities to learn about wine and cheese. It is a useful folder of information to have for the future.

Well, I think my body is ready to go to bed now. I probably won't sleep for too long since the new day has already dawned upon me. Expect more updates this weekend since everyone is gone and I have too much time on my hands. à la prochaine...