I don't mean to post a ton of blogs in one night, but it was a stormy evening here so we're hanging around the flat. A good time to get some blogging caught up!
Yesterday began week #3 of classes, meaning the program broke up into two different groups for the rest of the month to study food or wine. So yesterday I began learning about wine! Yesterday morning's class started off with basics of growing the grape vines and reproduction of the plants, as well as diseases that affect growth. We finished the course learning about the size, production, and yields of the different French wine regions, and what varieties are produced in each of the areas. I took so many notes, can't wait to share my notebook with everyone once I get home. Today's class was so awesome, unlike any class I have ever taken before... WINE TASTING! I have never actually "tasted" wine before and until recently I thought Barefoot was a decent wine (our instructor laughed when she talked about the US's wine companies including Gallo). So I have already learned a bunch including that there is a whole lot better than Barefoot! While tasting wine, I found it so interesting to be able to identify the different tastes of each of the wines: oak, cinnamon, roses, just to name a few. I can't wait to continue learning how to distinguish more tastes and flavors of wines. We sampled 5 white wines and 4 red wines, I enjoyed the white wines the most!
Funny story... This afternoon we were scheduled to find out where we will be for our internships will be for the month of July. Djamel, our main instructor, came in to announce that there are still one or two internship placements pending. Jokingly, I said I'm going to be one of those two... Yep! Sure enough I am, so hopefully by the end of the week I will know where I will be living next month. So that stinks - just my luck! (That's why I didn't call tonight dad! No information to let you know!) I'll definitely post as soon as I know! Now I'm so anxious.
Next stop this weekend: Marseilles! (Hopefully) With the train strikes going on in France we aren't sure how we will be getting there. 4 of 10 trains out of Toulouse, on average, have been getting cancelled, and 2 of 3 trains leaving Marseilles have been getting cancelled. Praying the strike ends before we leave, but on a good note, the tickets are refunded if the train is cancelled!
Yesterday began week #3 of classes, meaning the program broke up into two different groups for the rest of the month to study food or wine. So yesterday I began learning about wine! Yesterday morning's class started off with basics of growing the grape vines and reproduction of the plants, as well as diseases that affect growth. We finished the course learning about the size, production, and yields of the different French wine regions, and what varieties are produced in each of the areas. I took so many notes, can't wait to share my notebook with everyone once I get home. Today's class was so awesome, unlike any class I have ever taken before... WINE TASTING! I have never actually "tasted" wine before and until recently I thought Barefoot was a decent wine (our instructor laughed when she talked about the US's wine companies including Gallo). So I have already learned a bunch including that there is a whole lot better than Barefoot! While tasting wine, I found it so interesting to be able to identify the different tastes of each of the wines: oak, cinnamon, roses, just to name a few. I can't wait to continue learning how to distinguish more tastes and flavors of wines. We sampled 5 white wines and 4 red wines, I enjoyed the white wines the most!
Funny story... This afternoon we were scheduled to find out where we will be for our internships will be for the month of July. Djamel, our main instructor, came in to announce that there are still one or two internship placements pending. Jokingly, I said I'm going to be one of those two... Yep! Sure enough I am, so hopefully by the end of the week I will know where I will be living next month. So that stinks - just my luck! (That's why I didn't call tonight dad! No information to let you know!) I'll definitely post as soon as I know! Now I'm so anxious.
Next stop this weekend: Marseilles! (Hopefully) With the train strikes going on in France we aren't sure how we will be getting there. 4 of 10 trains out of Toulouse, on average, have been getting cancelled, and 2 of 3 trains leaving Marseilles have been getting cancelled. Praying the strike ends before we leave, but on a good note, the tickets are refunded if the train is cancelled!