French attitude to life in the Bordelais

We have now landed in the wine region around Bordeaux, not at the expensive Saint Emilion exports, but at a small winery on a hill that is almost reminiscent of Tuscany. But it is close to the Gironde, located exactly between the Gironde and Dordogne rivers. It is idyllic here, the streets are small and narrow, the villages are tranquil and mostly medieval.

I am amazed by almost everything I see here. The vegetation reminds me a lot of Tuscany. In addition to wine, there are also oleanders, figs and everything I know from Italy. The chestnuts are just waiting to be harvested.

What I don't think is so great right now are the hunters who are constantly banging, but we already know that from Tuscany and Liguria in October.

One thing I always notice here is that the people are not hectic, they seem to be deeply relaxed. That impresses me! They are friendly and are happy to engage in conversation. Our host, or rather the master of the vineyard where we are standing, brought us some wine to welcome us. (Admittedly, I almost can't hold a conversation, that's Christian's job, but I mostly understand what's being said.)

Geese and everything related to them are a specialty in the region. I'll give it a try, but foie gras sounds like something I won't really like because I don't particularly like liver. But there are also other regional products, I'm looking forward to the market in Cadillac on Saturday. We stay here a few more nights because it is quiet and simply beautiful here.

I am also very impressed by how our landlord lives his life. Some of this may sound contradictory to a German, but it makes a lot of sense here. His car is an old Peugeot that can almost keep up with Schrottie, but that doesn't matter because there is almost no rust here, as long as the engine is running you can drive a car here. The house has probably been in the family for generations, it is renovated and well prepared, but the best thing for me is the winemaker's approach that please save water. He demonstrates this with his camper toilet, which showed me how much water I literally flush down the toilet every day.

It is a compost toilet that works with sawdust and is then dug up and processed for fertilizer in the winter months. I knew the principle of a dry toilet, but it really makes sense here, because it has hardly rained at all in this region in the last few months, the water level is low, and there is dust everywhere. As a winemaker you need water, where can I save? Sure, on the flush! I think that in the long term we could probably install a separation toilet in the caravan.