Vine and Wine Ecomuseum

Friday we braved the rainy weather and via tram and bus took a trip to a museum located in the last typical vinegrower's home in the Bordeaux region which held a collection of 500 tools from the 18th and 19th centuries. We were the only ones there (not sure how busy this little place gets) so we got a personal guided tour (in french, of course) on the history of Bordeaux wine's and their commercial relationship with England in and out of the 100 Years War. It was actually very interesting and we chatted alot with the man after the tour as he used to be a winemaker.

In the back right you can see some glass tubes- this is for bottling wine. The wine is pumped throught the glass and put the bottles under and fill em on up!

This contraption was used to weigh the filled barrels of wine before a sale. Apparently the seller would use his foot to try to push it down (making it "weigh" more) and the buyer would use his food to try to lift it up (making it "weigh" less.) Sneaky, sneaky. I wonder who won...in France, the customer is rarely right.

Tools.

oh, we were SOOOO cold! waiting for the bus

We were SOO hungry too, and decided to check out this "American French Diner" near Ben's schools. It was like a 50's diner style, with Elvis and Marilyn Monroe statues and such.

We capped the night off with a serious game of King's Corner...

Ben won.