Wine and chestnuts
It's been a bit of a foody weekend. Saturday morning saw Tanya and I explore the markets of Lausanne, which are held every Saturday and every Wednesday. I must admit that in Canberra I often meant to go out to Epic for the Sunday markets, but rarely did; this reflects badly on me, but also demonstrates one of the reasons why I'm pleased to to have such easy access to locally grown produce. The markets fill up street upon street of the pedestrian parts of the old town, spilling down from Place du Riponne and into Place de la Palud, two of the central squares, and adding some farm-brought charm to the chic shopping streets.
Supplies bought, we headed out of town to Lavaux, the wine producing region of terraced vineyards just to the east of Lausanne. The vines go from right up high down to Lac Léman, and although I'm sure this has been said a billion times before, it is easy to see why it's a UNESCO listed area. It's just so pretty. I took a lot of photos and we wandered through the vines to the little village of Rivaz. It must be harvest season, because there were people picking grapes and the smell of the fruit was thick in the air.
The Lavaux wine region.
A glass of wine on a terrace with a view.
On Sunday we went to the Fête de la Châtaigne - the Celebration of The Chestnut! It was held in a town called Fully, which makes for all sorts of great jokes. Really the most surprising thing about the festival was that it was about so much more than just chestnuts. There were chestnuts there to be sure, all being roasted and put into paper bags and enjoyed with wine, but there were also all sorts of other stalls - leather workers, clogs, bags, bands playing, jewellery, and local produce by the barrow-load. There are so many more types of cured meats than I knew existed! We sampled cheese and bought a very nice little bottle of quince liqueur. We were also thwarted not once but twice by a touristic train that promised to take us to see the chestnut farms, but was always full. I suspect a chestnut-related conspiracy. Chestnuts obviously are important here: where everywhere else in Switzerland I have seen nothing but orderly conduct from everyone, the smell of chestnuts in the air sent people into an uncharacteristic frenzy of pushing and shoving at trains, busses and at the stalls themselves. The chestnuts were pretty good though, so I guess I can see why.
Planning which mountains to climb while drinking - always a good idea.