Macau

In the interest of keeping in touch while I'm away, I've decided to jump on the old blogger bandwagon (I hope there's still room for me!) to keep you abreast of my wanderings. So, with that said, greetings from Macau! For those of you just tuning in, I am not writing from Macau, China (not yet at least) but rather from Macau, France. The Post Office does get confused sometimes, though, and numerous phone bills of Bastien's have been sent to the Far East. What's amazing is that, without fail, the Chinese have sent them all back! Bouygues Télécom says merci.

Macau (pronounced mac-o) is situated in Southwest France about 25km north of Bordeaux on the banks of the Garonne River just before it joins the Gironde (Google Maps may be useful here for a more precise view). A quick sweep of the Internet proves relatively fruitless on most matters Macau (not surprising given its size). I did, however, find this entry on Wikipedia France:

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macau_(Gironde)

If you can't read the French, here are a few things of note:

• The population of Macau in 2006 was 3,196 (up from 1,801 in 1962).
• There is a female mayor.
• One theory (there are several) on the origin of the name Macau is that it comes from the contraction of 2 Latin words, malum cavum, meaning bad place. (Great!)
• There are traces of Roman roads within the vicinity, indicating that the burg of Macau dates back to the Gallo-Roman era.
• Latitude is 45° (Boston is at 42°).

What Wikipedia doesn't tell you is that the thriving metropolis of Macau consists of a pharmacy, a butcher, a barber, a salon, a quickie mart, a 12th century church (every French village worth its salt has one), a post office, 2 pizzerias (have you ever tried foie gras and magret de canard on a pizza? yum!), 3 boulangeries/pâtisseries (yes 3! the French take their bread seriously!), an elementary school, and opening in April, a café restaurant. Most everything is closed on Mondays and every day between 1pm and 3pm (lunch).

But town commerce aside, what takes up the most physical and mental space around here are the vineyards. There are vines just about everywhere (we are in the Bordeaux area after all), and wine is the industry of the region. In fact, if I turn around and look out the window, I am greeted by the sight of about 7.5 hectares, or 18 acres, of vineyard with the bell tower of Macau's church in the distance.

Perhaps I should mention here that the vineyard I see out the window is also the vineyard I am living on. The vines of Château Beau Rivage are only a stone's throw out the front door, which is practical for Bastien, who is the "vigneron et maître de chai" here, meaning he manages both the vines and the grapes as well as the wine cellar and vinification process. More on the subject of the vineyard, the vines, and the wine later.

Photos to follow, as well...