the montmartre harvest

On this chilly November 1st morn, I'm curled up in bed, thankful All Saint's Day is a French national holiday. But because of the 3-day weekend, I also have no excuse for not celebrating Halloween. It's not like I was en route to the countryside. I was just tired... because that cute guy and I had stayed out on another "let's meet for drinks" date the night before. He's great. I'm lame. To redeem myself, let's rewind to one very fun day. And to set the scene, I must reference a Thought Catalog article I stumbled across a few weeks ago: 21 Embarrassing Examples Of Why French People Are Way Trashier Than Americans. I left the page unimpressed and disappointed (following, yes, an initial chuckle). Must we so consistently compete and compare our two cultures? Apparently so. The following day, a French site fired back with, 21 examples qui font que les américains sont plus trash que les français...

Beside the fact that "trash" or "trashy" is a not a very nice word to describe any one person, let alone an entire country, the examples are also ridiculous. Can't we focus on the good stuff we share? Like day-drinking, for example. But I guess it's not really fair to compare some of my favorite collegiate memories with the Parisian festival that honors the harvest of Clos Montmartre, the last remaining vineyard in the former village, is it? Probably not. Even still, I hope you know that Americans do appreciate wine more than we're credited with and the French are hardly ever as snobby about their vin as stereotype might have you believe.

We tasted, sampled, and enjoyed the ambiance that only a historical neighborhood flanked with tipsy Parisians and visitors can provide. And after bites and sips of regional red wines, charcuterie, and cheeses, we ended on a sweet note with churros and champagne. That, my friends, is my kind of celebration. Maybe I'll trick and treat next year ;) happy weekend!