GRAPE PICKING IN FRANCE
I woke up this morning and I realised that it is almost
exactly forty years since I first travelled abroad! Unfortunately,
for that journey I did not keep a journal, therefore, I have never
written an account of my trip.
I was just 16 years old and had only ever had one
holiday in my entire life. That one and only holiday had been on the
Norfolk Broads in the UK, a mere 70 miles from where I lived.
For my first trip abroad I was travelling to Epernay in
the Champagne region of France to pick grapes for two weeks. I was
travelling with my best friend Derek, at 21 years old he was the one
who had organised our trip, applying, through an agent, for the
position of fruit picker. I had to lie about my age as applicants
were supposed to be at least 18 years old.
We travelled by train and ferry via Dover, Calais and
Paris. The owner of the vineyard picked us up at the train station at
Epernay to drive us the final few miles to Champagne Jardin, our home
for the next two weeks.
It was hard work, and not very pleasant when having to
work in all weathers, but the harvest had to be got in on time. The
pay was good for me, as a recent school leaver, working in the
horticultural trade, I was only earning 35p an hour. Picking grapes I
was earning the equivalent to about 50p an hour. The food was
excellent and we had wine with every evening meal. We slept in a
dormitory and the experience was, on the whole, a good one.
When we had finished grape picking, Derek and I joined
some other travellers making their way to Spain. Sadly, due to lack
of experience and money, we only got as far as Nevers in central
France before we gave up trying to thumb a lift to Spain. Instead we
caught the train back to Paris and returned home, tired and in need
of a bath, but satisfied at our achievements.
This was a great first experience of travel for me, it
had given me an appetite for travel and the following year I returned
to France and finally made it to Spain. In the intervening years I
have travelled as much as I can, visiting large areas of Europe, a
little of Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, North America and Canada. I
can pack my bag and be ready to go at the drop of a hat, any excuse!
It is only in the last few years that I have turned my
hand to writing about my travels, I have by no means covered all of
my adventures, there is more to come. Hopefully readers of this blog
enjoy reading my travel reviews and will return to read more reviews
as they are posted. Please do leave comments if you find anything of
interest or of help in your own travel arrangements.
Here's to the next forty years!
