It is midday and the sun still feels very warm in the south west of France. I’m having a picnic with my travelling friends on the summit of Pic Saint Loup. The view from up here is wonderful, especially with all the colourful vineyards down in the valley. It is early autumn and all the leaves are now turning various shades of yellow, red and brown. Our friend CUISTO, probably the best cook in the world is having a go at us because we are refusing to taste the “Apéritifs”. Apéritifs are in France more than something to eat and drink before a meal. They are an entire social custom in the South of France. 

The word “Apéritif” means to open in Latin, and is designed to prepare the palate and appetite for the magnificent meal to come which your hosts may have prepared for you. Cuisto as you will learn is not an easy going person, rather big (especially the tummy), and very stubborn.

So we decided to accept his offer and taste his “appetizers”. It was quite an enjoyable experience. We had a few local drinks and some ‘amuses gueules” another word for snack (UK) or munchies (US), I would rather translate it by “Amuse your mouth”, before having lunch. Even the drinks were quite pleasant, a chorus of ‘Santé’ and ‘Cheers’ echoed around us. I would recommend a rather strong drink called Pastis originating from Marseilles in Provence for those of you who like aniseed drinks. It is something you drink while playing “boules” or “petanque” with the locals until you cannot see the boules any longer. I let you guess why!

It was finally time to get started with our main course, some lovely baguettes (French stick) filled with local sausages, pâtés and the very famous cheese from the region Le Roquefort. ARTEA, the art specialist a very soft and gentle women, took a very nicely designed bottle of champagne from her bag. It was our first outing altogether, so she thought it was something worthwhile celebrating. To be honest with you, the design of the bottle was better than the over rated Champagne.

In the meantime our scientist QUARKY was wondering how the bubbles formed in a glass of champagne while a very frustrated EARTHEA told us more about the department Hérault which is named after the Hérault River. She was frustrated because, what she wanted the most was to go swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. Having a picnic somewhere in the countryside was not a remotely attractive occupation to her. Even a few glasses of red wine would not cheer her up; she is a very strong minded person.

Sulking, she moved away from the rest of us and started to write a few lines on Zee Book, our travel log. She wrote about the places to visit in the Hérault, the lakes, the saltwater lagoons, the gorges, the rivers, the mountains and the sandy beaches lapped by the Mediterranean Sea. The ones she has not seen yet! It was now time to get back to the village; the warmth of the afternoon had gone and was slowly being replaced by the cold and a wonderful sunset. It was time to move on to another destination. But where would it be?

References:

Pic Saint-Loup is a mountain in Languedoc-Roussillon, southern France, located near the communes of Cazevieille and Saint-Mathieu-de-Tréviers in the Hérault department. 

Are you lost? Do you wonder what this story is all about? Who are the characters? Let's go back to the beginning, you probably need some explanations.

Writer:

Writer of the month (January2009)

Username: Iznogood

Nationality: French

Proofreaders: Iknowsitall; Guest

Comments: It was quite easy to become the writer of the month because I had just created Zee Book and nobody else had the the time to send me a story !

It will probably never happen again so let me enyoy this moment of glory.