Travel and Tourism – 24/7 in FRANCE

Did you know that you can enjoy wines from Menton, Mougins and Mandelieu?

As well as Saint-Jeannet, Saint-Paul de Vence, Tourettes-sur-Loup and even theLes Îles de Lérins off Cannes?

There really are vineyards in places least expected along our azure coast!

The aforementioned local vineyards are all classified as IGP, which stands for indication géographique protégée (or vin de pays).

So what’s the difference between an AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) and an IGP? It’s not so much a comparison of quality as you could easily think.

The AOC label is in place to protect historic wine areas of France. Each appellation is tightly regulated and the rules control such aspects as what grapes can be planted and where to achieve this. AOC wines must also show “tipicity”. In other words a Bellet wine should taste like a Bellet wine, not like a Côtes du Rhône.

Whereas wines which are categorised as IGP are not bound by such strict regulations and winemakers have much more freedom, especially when it comes to grape varieties. IGP wines can be some of the most interesting (and best value) wines to discover.

Here’s The Riviera Grapevine’s introduction to the eight vineyards of the Alpes-Maritimes!

Mandelieu

Name: Domaine de Barbossi
Address: 3300 avenue de Fréjus, Mandelieu-La Napoule
Phone (hotel switchboard):+ 33 (0)4 93 49 42 41
Varieties grown: Cinsault, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Rolle, Chardonnay & Muscat Petit Grain
Wines produced: White, Red & Rosé
A bit more info: The vineyard at Domaine de Barbossi comprises just one part of a mini-empire in the hills of Mandelieu-La Napoule. A luxury hotel and sporting complex, it’s a rather professional wine outfit which is responsible for between 16 to 18,000 bottles a year. If I was wondering why this was the one IGP wine I rarely see on the shelves around here, the answer lies on the website. It’s safe to say that a fair amount of the total production doesn’t even leave the hotel complex, happily guzzled by the hotel guests.
Visitors welcome: They are not yet set up for wine tourism as such, but if you’re in Nice you can find their wine at La Part des Anges.

Mougins

Name: La Vigne de Pibonson
Address: 303 chemin du Miracle, Mougins
Phone: +33 (0)4 93 75 33 63
Varieties grown: Rolle & Grenache
Wines produced: White, Rose and a late-harvest sweet wine (vin doux)
A bit more info: A little over one hectare of precious land on the border of Cannes and Mougins has been salvaged from real estate developers by a Norwegian man and his wife who have a clear passion for wine. Together with the help of some of the regions finest oenologists, they make around 6000 bottles of their three wines. A grape miracle onchemin du Miracle!
Visitors welcome: As it stands, they are not (yet) set up for wine tourism either.

Îles de Lérins

Name: Abbaye de Lérins
Address: Île St Honorat
Email: planariaadmin@abbayedelerins.com
Varieties grown: Syrah, Mourvèdre, Pinot Noir, Clairette, Chardonnay & Viognier.
Wines produced: Red & White, as well as assorted liqueurs.
A bit more info: This really is holy wine! Less than 15 minutes from Cannes and its glamorous Croisette are les Îles de Lérins. The two islands are Île St Marguerite and Île St Honorat. The former was reputedly home to the famous Man in the Iron Mask and the latter has housed a continual monastic community since the 5^th century. Who make wine. All the wines are named for a different saint, and the vineyards, set by the ocean with the glittering coastline of Cannes as a backdrop, are undoubtedly some of the most spectacularly located vines in the world! A definite French Riviera wine highlight.
Visitors welcome: Yes, by appointment. A selection of (paying) tastings and tours are available, including summer wine cruises on select dates.

For more information: Excellence de Lérins website

Tourettes-sur-Loup

Name: Domaine Saint Joseph
Address: 160 chemin des Vignes, Tourettes-sur-Loup
Telephone: +33 (0) 4 93 58 81 31/ +33 (0)6 09 28 26 59
Varieties grown: Marselan, Merlot, Mourvèdre, Folle Noire, Braquet, Cinsault, Clairette, Rolle & Sémillon.
Wines produced: Red, White, Rosé, Sparkling & a sweet, aperitif wine
A bit more info: With one hectare of vines in the village of Tourettes-sur-Loup, and a slightly larger holding beneath the ramparts of Saint-Paul de Vence, Domaine Saint Joseph boasts two of the prettiest locations for vines on the Riviera! Certified biodynamic, just over 10,000 bottles are produced a year by this family run operation. A visit to the tasting room in Tourettes is highly recommended.
Visitors welcome: Yes, by appointment.

Saint-Paul de Vence

Name: Le Petit Vigneau
Address: 1466 Route des Serres, Saint-Paul de Vence
Telephone: +33 (0)6 62 51 92 08
Varieties grown: Rolle, Sémillon, Chardonnay, Viognier, Clairette, Braquet, Mourvèdre, Folle Noire and Grassenc (phew!)
Wines produced: Red, White & Rosé
A bit more info: The last thing you’d expect in this quiet, residential street in Saint-Paul de Vence is to come across a vineyard, but that’s exactly the surprise at number 1466. Raphael Vigneau is a busy man, running a very successful Provence wine tours company (Azur Wine Tours) as well as this boutique vineyard with a view of the old village in the background. One of the rare (if not the only) winemakers to grow the little-known, indigenous grape Grassenc. Another must visit for any local wine lovers.
Visitors welcome: Yes, by appointment. Tour and tasting costs €5.

Saint-Jeannet

Name: Vignoble des Hautes Collines de la Côte d’Azur
Address: 800 chemin des Sausses, Saint-Jeannet
Telephone: +33 (0)4 93 24 96 01
Varieties grown: Cabernet Sauvignon, Syrah, Merlot, Grenache, Braquet, Mourvèdre, Rolle, Ugni Blanc, Chardonnay & Muscat of Alexandria
Wines produced: White, Red, Rosé, Sparkling, & Vin Doux (sweet white and red)
A bit more info: Somewhat of an icon in these parts, the ‘vineyard of Saint-Jeannet’ (as it is more commonly known) is famous for their rather unique glassbonbonnieres (bottles) which age the wine, as well as the whimsical labels which reflect the vintage. Warm colours stand for a hot year, whilst colder colours can be interpreted as a cooler vintage. The last vineyard standing under the baou of Saint-Jeannet, a visit is strongly recommended to discover their interesting and varied styles of wine.
Visitors welcome: Yes, but an appointment is strongly recommended. Prices for a tasting start at €8 per person.

(Read posted article by 24/7 in France HERE)

Nice

Name: Domaine Augier
Address: 680, St Roman de Bellet, Nice
Telephone: +33 (0)4 92 15 11 99
Wines produced: Red, White & Rosé
A bit more info: The address may look familiar – Domaine Auguier, producing wine since 1991, was once part of the AOC Bellet and has been bottling under the IGP Alpes-Maritimes label for three years now. Winemaking is in the Augier blood and it’s Elise Augier, the third generation, now responsible for an annual production of up to 4,000 bottles.
Visitors welcome: The vineyard welcomes visitors every Tuesday and Thursday between 4.30pm and 7pm by appointment.

Menton

Name: Domaine de l’Annonciade
Address: Near the Monastère de l’Annonciade, 2135 Corniche André Tardieu, Menton
Varieties grown: Grenache, Mourvèdre, Cinsault, Syrah, Malunvern.
Wines produced: Red (vin de table, a different classification to IGP in fact)
A bit more info: Situated on the same hill in Menton as the monastery which bears the same name, it was the monks who historically grew grapes on this site. Cut to the 1990′s, and a volunteer group going by the name of Confrérie de l’Etiquette du Mentonnais decided to restore the winemaking tradition here.If you’re a fan of obscure vineyards and grapes, it doesn’t get better than Domaine de l’Annonciade and their mysterious Malunvern. In fact, it’s difficult to find a single reference to it, even in my trusted grape bible, Wine Grapes.
Visitors welcome: Not as such, but keep an eye on their blog (below) for details of upcoming wine tastings they will be present at.

Honorary mention must go to Domaine de Toasc in Nice, who along with their AOC Bellet wines also bottle an IGP wine or two.

I would like to cite two very useful websites in helping my ‘forensics’ when it came to finding out the above information:

Asncap – Association of Sommeliers of Nice Côte d’Azur and Elizabeth Gabay, a Master of Wine living in the hinterland of Nice and actively promoting the wines of the area.

Source/Credit: The Riviera Grapevine

Reblogged from: www.FluentU.com

Having a lazy French study day?

All you want to do is sit around in your pajamas and browse the Internet.

That stack of flashcards is just going to sit there collecting dust.

The French conversation program you picked up last week? You know you should start…but today? Psshh.

You don’t even have the attention span to watch a French movie or TV show.

Think your day’s as good as wasted? Think again.

You can create a French immersion experience around your inclination to kick back and veg (or as the French say,glander).

Here are some simple ways to make lazy days more productive.

Practice French Online: 7 Smart Methods for Immersive Browsing

1. Change all your language settings to French.

Just browsing in French will help you pick up everyday language as experienced by internautes (Internet users).

On Twitter, you’ll quickly learn that tweeter (to tweet) has been established as a regular -er verb. If you don’t already know the difference between the third person singular and plural conjugations of the verb aimer (to like), switch to French onFacebook and you can be sure you’ll never forget.

These are little things, but they add up.

You’ll receive your notifications in French, too, and come to associate certain sentences with information pertaining directly to you (so-and-so sent you a message, etc.). These phrases will repeatedly pop up on your screen, so you can’t avoid remembering them.

This is like a supercharged flashcard deck you don’t even have to make yourself!

If you’re not already a social media user, consider trying it out. Twitter is especially fantastic for finding people with similar interests and goals.

Don’t just stop with social media profiles — you can change the language on your web browser, operating system and e-mail accounts, too. Just be careful of doing this if your French isn’t very advanced yet.

You’ll want to take note of how to change everything back in case you find yourself panicking in unfamiliar territory. For example, “settings” is paramètres.

2. Use social media to observe and connect with French speakers.

Once you’ve gotten comfortable navigating around your various social media accounts in French, see if you can track down some French speakers.

You may already have a pen pal or language exchange partner, but socializing with native speakers on a larger, more casual scale has benefits, too. After all, it’s probably something you do all the time in English.

Following, “liking” or just browsing the profiles of French-speaking celebrities is a good place to start. From there you can branch out to connecting with other fans. But if you don’t have anyone in mind, you can simply search for certain French key words to find people who might interest you.

For example, if you love movies and you’re browsing Twitter, go up to what should now be the Recherchez sur Twitter bar and type in “J’adore les films.” This will bring up tweets from everyone who has used those words recently.

If you put those words directly in your profile information, it’ll help other movie fans find you.

You can also try searching for French words or phrases as hashtags. Go ahead and start slapping these onto your own tweets while you’re at it! Here are some popular ones:

For books or reading: #lire #livres
For music: #musique #écouter (this one can also be used for radio or podcasts)
For cooking: #cuisine
For the latest news: #nouvelles
For technology: #technologie

Due to the character limit on Twitter, French-speaking internautes will try to make hashtags as short as possible, which often means cutting out the article. You might think this would cause problems with linguistically ambiguous hashtags like #film or #cuisine. But if you have your language set to French, Twitter will conveniently direct you to French tweets.

Once you’ve connected with some French users, try posting some of your thoughts in French. If you’re a beginner, this might seem daunting, but it’s really a low-pressure situation. You don’t have to worry about pronunciation, and you can take as long as you want to compose what you’re going to say. No matter what, you’ll get some practice in, and you may even get some replies!

3. Surf shopping sites and classified ads in French.

You might be thinking: “Woah, hang on. I can see the benefits of French browsing, but shopping sounds dangerous. What if I accidentally purchase a poodle for a thousand euros?”

Slow down and take a deep breath! For one thing, a lot of the “shopping” you do on the web is the online version of window shopping, and that’s where you want to start. It’ll help get you to the point where you’re comfortable buying, too.

Where to look.

Most larger shopping or classified ad sites like Amazon, eBay, and Craigslist offer service in France and French-speaking countries that you can easily access through menus on their home pages. As long as you’re dream shopping, though, you may as well dream big. Type immobilier and Paris, Bruxelles (Brussels) or any other place into a search engine to browse real estate in that area. Once you’ve found your dream house or apartment, dream-furnish it by searching for meubles. Or just skip right to your dream voiture (car). Just make sure you keep your credit card information out of these ventures!

How to buy (if you want to).

Amazon.fr is a good place to start. The Amazon Currency Converter lets you see exactly how much you’ll be paying before you purchase. French Amazon also offers a “Help in English” page which can be found by following the Aideoption to Autres sites d’aide. This page will walk you through all the steps of purchasing, explaining what the various buttons and options mean.

Every shopping site is a little different, but extensive, habitual browsing is the best way to get to the point where you know what you’re doing. A couple of things to be aware of when ordering products from overseas:

You may have to pay significantly more for shipping if you’re ordering from a different country.

Most DVDs purchased from France will be manufactured for Region 2 players, so if you’re in the U.S. or Canada (Region 1), you’ll want to purchase a region-free player to make sure you can watch them! You’ll also want to make sure your devices meet other compatibility requirements.

This might all sound a little intimidating, but getting comfortable is about familiarity. Besides, opening up your shopping options is a good idea. French-language books and movies can be priced significantly higher in English-speaking countries, or they may be entirely unavailable.

4. Search for anything that interests you in French.

You probably already know there’s a French Wikipedia.

Start using it, and start searching in French elsewhere, too!

Any subject related to French culture, especially when modern, is likely to produce longer articles in French than in English. And even for more general subjects — why not try French first?

Whether it’s history, music or pop culture, allow your natural curiosity to lead you. On a lazy day, you might not be jotting down every word you don’t know or even finishing every article, but you probably don’t always do that in English either. It’s a heck of a lot better than nothing!

5. Use search functions to check your grammar and spelling.

You may have a good dictionary and a comprehensive grammar book, but sometimes you just need to know quickly if you can say something.

For example, if you’re thinking about posting on a message board about your love of wine, and it occurs to you to say, “J’aime le vin bien,” a quick Google search (in quotes) will reveal that people don’t actually say that. Another search for “J’aime bien le vin” will show that you simply had the adverb in the wrong place.

Obviously, you can’t check longer or more complex sentences this way, and you definitely can’t trust everyone online to be using correct grammar. But by breaking your sentences up into grammatical parts and seeing how many results they yield, you can get a pretty good idea of whether a certain phrasing is generally acceptable. Google will also try to redirect you if you spell something incorrectly.

If you haven’t discovered it yet, WordReference is another invaluable resource for doing quick French research while you’re online. You may also want to check out these translation apps.

6. Look for and subscribe to French language video and text sources.

You already know that the internet is a great place to find language tools of all varieties, but sometimes you’re not in the mood for a full-blown lesson or anything that’s going to take up a significant amount of time.

This is where French-language YouTube channels come in handy. You don’t need to watch instructional French videos — just regular people filming themselves or their friends. Regular people playing and reviewing video games. Regular people describing their hometown or telling you about their latest vacation.

There’s lots of good material out there, and you can always find high-quality videos on FluentU to keep you company on even your laziest of days.

It’s also pretty easy to find French language message boards and blogs based on subjects that interest you, from gardening and scientific discoveries to a specific band or musical artist. Reading through whatever you can understand and getting a feel for how people communicate online in French will give you exposure to yet another aspect of the language.

In the meantime, you can find and keep up with French language publications through your social media accounts. Some of them may even find you!

7. Pretend like you just found the Internet (and it’s French).

Regardless of how old you were when the internet became commonplace (or whether you were even born), everyone has probably had that exciting moment in which they fully comprehended its possibilities. Still, you probably don’t sit around all day just thinking about how great it is. Now’s a good time to remember and start browsing for pleasure anew!

Rediscover the novelty of The Worldwide Web in your French learning. Experience the joy of following suggested links until you don’t remember how you ended up on a particular site. Hop from friends list to friends list on Facebook. Let your eyes wander. Take in site options, recommended content, ads and promotions.

Be susceptible to advertising. If you haven’t caught on, the things you might consider your worst natural tendencies can be helpful and even necessary in learning a language. If you only learn French in a controlled, disciplined environment, it’s never going to become a truly integrated part of you. So go ahead and stare at ads, the ones you’ve trained your eyes to ignore. Those with moving or changing text are best because they challenge your reading comprehension speed.

Learning French is hard work, but it should also be fun. It should be an activity you can enjoy not just when you’re feeling motivated and social, but also in passive, solitary moments.

So, stay in bed with your laptop. Curl up on the couch with your tablet. Relax on the patio with your smartphone. You can afford it, because — regardless of what it may look like — today you’re getting stuff done.