Ok – it’s official. Chris has found his spiritual home and it’s right here in the South of France. If there was any doubt about this, it was cast aside yesterday as we drove through the French country side on our way to the Gaillac wine festival, with Chris asking every few minutes “What about that house? Wouldn’t you love to live in that house?” For me, the answer is negative – I love holidaying in this part of the world but in no way does it feel like home. Perhaps because of this conversation, I have a big bout of homesickness today. I woke up feeling a bit blue and then I received a picture of Pepper looking particularly adorable – ears back, big black eyes shining with love – and sank into a full blown slump. The sun is shining, the sunflowers are smiling happily at me and the local baguette is more delicious than ever, but I feel droopy today. Don’t get me wrong – I am not ready to go home yet – I just miss my dog and my friends.

Anyway, yesterday we went to the Gaillac Fete de Vins. In the local park of this lovely town, were dozens of identical mini chalets, each with a local wine maker promoting their wares. We bought some tasting glasses for 3 euros each and then off we went! Nearly every chalet had a wine maker who spoke English, much to Chris’ delight – he took notes, asked many questions and went into raptures over many of the wines. The kids had plenty of room to run around and there were French carnival acts and games set up throughout the park. Because we had to drive, we had to be somewhat circumspect about the number of wineries we trialled. But in the course of our exploration we discovered unwooded Chardonnays, wooded Savignon Blancs, dessert wine made from Cabernet Sauvignon, a sweet Rose, sparking wine that tasted like green apples and the smoothest Syrah I have ever tasted. At the end of the afternoon we strolled happily out of the park clutching several bottles of truly unique wine (most well under 10 euros). We decided to have an early dinner at Gaillac and and sober up a bit before we drove home. We sat outside and enjoyed some lovely pizza – I had a pizza called Alsacienne which had a white sauce, sweet onions and melted white cheese. Delicious!