David gets even for the jewelry show

Last night we went to the 19th Mons Wine Expo. While not quite reaching the level of our officemate who spent €2,000 one year, we did our bit to keep the French economy afloat. And yes, they were almost all French vendors, with one Romanian and a couple of South American countries also represented. But the poor Chileans were getting pretty much ignored in favor of the Burgundians and the Bordelais. It was a surprisingly small event--maybe three or four dozen vendors--and very uncrowded at first because we deliberately went early. But the smallness made it more manageable, unlike those monster jewelry shows where women just freeze in the entranceway as soon as they see all the sparkly things, with their hearts racing, unable to even breathe.

We both relived bits of our youth by loading up on wines from the Loire Valley (Rita) and Languedoc-Roussillon (David). Robin, Bob, Lynn, Thom, if you're reading, I got me some Corbières, which is now an appellation controlée! I had fun chatting with the vintner; I told him I hadn't had any in 35 years. Then there was the olive girl from Bandol, which is right next door to Toulon, where I spent the school year 77-78. We walked away with a few months worth of olives, dried tomatoes, and what she termed "Provençal candy": pickled garlic cloves. Putain! Elles sont bonnes!