Think state fair meets "the Taste" meets the Home and Garden show meets the wine tasting convention, then -- magnify the size by about 40! It was in 7 buildings, three floors each, and each one was bigger than our convention center. Pat drank about 12 different types of wine, without buying a single glass. The salon that we entered covered about 1/3 of the regions of France that cultivate wine, make cheese and honey! I bought honey, we bought wine and bananas. We found a microbrewery, saucisson (sausage) made from wild boars, rum and bananas from the more tropical areas like Martinique and Reunion Islands. People were drinking, eating and singing. Every kind of food, drink, flower, plant, animal, skill or trade you could think of was represented.
WE liked it so much we returned for another day. We bought more wine!! We bought some fancy Label Rouge beans and ate a great foie gras sandwich and grilled duck sandwich. Of course we had cheese, some fabulous ice cream and did I mention more wine? What a great way to really see the culture of France. It is worth thinking about for next year. Gotta go pick up our wine!!
