Chateau Brandeau

Elly and I arrived to our first farm last week. Chateau Brandeau came on recommendation from a friend as a stellar WWOOFing spot. We packed up our things and boarded an eight hour train across the soggy, green countryside. Surprisingly, there were no (major) hiccups in the journey and we arrived right on time and completely in tact. We did have an amusing moment when we realized that we'd forgotten our wine opener and Elly had to open the cork with a pair of small scissors and a knitting needle. How, you may ask? Sheer, willful persistence (and a tolerance for cork in your glass).

I was starting to think that traveling with Elly necessitated some sort of catastrophe, or at least a delay, but I'm crossing my fingers that the curse is now broken and it's all smooth sailing from here on out. Here's a recap of all the many travel disasters which Elly has been associated with in the past year.

1. Ticket counter riot in at the San Francisco airport on her way out to Hawaii last fall
2. Three days of waiting around the Paris airport last winter due to a snowstorm
3. Cancelled trip to Argentina due to an earthquake (Elly's boyfriend)
4. Week delay to France because of an Icelandic volcano (me)

All of these interrupted journeys either were Elly herself traveling, or someone going to or coming from visiting Elly. After the first couple catastrophies, it began to seem less and less like a series of coincidences and more and more like voodoo. So either the hex is lifted or it doesn't apply to rail transit, because we arrived in a little town just outside of Bordeaux at about 8PM, greeted by a disheveled and friendly British farmer named Fearn. He drove us back to his vineyard, sat us down by a cozy fire and served a wonderfully toasty and generous dinner.

Fearn and Andrea took over the Chateau from Fearn's mother about 25 years ago and are pros at making tasty and traditional Bordeaux wine. It's a small, organic operation and Fearn and Andrea do everything on the farm themselves, with a little help from volunteer works when needed. The patches of vines stretch out in all directions surrounding the chateau, dotted here and there with sheep pastures, a chicken coop, a garden.

There are three other WWOOFers here, all of whom are pretty great. But let me tell your first about the most colorful: Eddy. When we arrived the first evening, there was he was in his white angora sweater and faux fur coat, handing me a glass of wine and offering me a seat by the fire. That about sums up this wonderful man: flaming, hospitable, fabulous. He's a Maori fella from New Zealand and Australia who came here to learn all about viticulture and winemaking so that he can have his own little vineyard here in France one day. He told me his dream the first night: that one day Beyonce and Jay Z will happen upon his gorgeous French tasting room, fall in love with it and finance his own personal paradise. I encouraged him to write them a letter and promised to help direct the accompanying music video to help woo them to the project.

More about Anna, the tractor-driving blonde Spaniard and Phil the tender-hearted bloke from Liverpool to follow...with pictures!