For the singing group The Carpenters, “rainy days and Mondays always get me down” but that’s not necessarily the case when you have adventurous friends. In an ants-in-the-pants moment, as Sally and Larry would call it, they suggested we jump in the car with them to head out to destinations unknown, at least to us, to shake off the blues of a dull day. This wouldn’t be the first time that they’ve taken us on a secret road trip and I definitely hope that it won’t be the last. Our only clue was that there would be food and wine involved, and with those magic words, we were off!

Bill and I live in what we think of as Wine Country yet locally no one seems to use that description so well known in northern California. Within a short walk from home, we can be in vineyards that are part of the world’s largest wine producing region in terms of volume and value plus appellations and designations, indicating the quality and origin of the wines. We would add Olive Country to our part of France although that takes a car ride to get to the groves, our first stop of the day.

Officially called Coopérative du Moulin Oléicole l’Oulibo we just know it as the olive store where 1000 farmers annually bring hundreds of tons of 5 kinds of olives for processing into our favorite apéro snack, tapenades, and oils for cooking and skin care. The featured photo across the top of today’s post shows one of the 20 kg/44 pound crates of mixed olives ready for pressing. During Covid when we couldn’t travel, we had the store ship directly to us so we were grateful to go there ourselves and bring home several liter cans of fresh oil.

Back on the road, we continued following alongside the Canal-du-Midi to the town of Capestang where lunch awaited us. The restaurant Pourquoi Pas was originally an overnight stop for boatmen and their horses. The cozy interior with rustic walls, wooden beams, a friendly dog, and a dazzling wood fire offered the perfect warm welcome on a cold, rainy afternoon. After our meal we were reluctant to leave the fireside comfort but we had one more visit to make.

Heading back towards Carcassonne, when I saw the sign advertising our final destination, I had a flashback to Atlanta and to Your Dekalb Farmers Market. We used to shop there monthly and never left the store without cases of wine from Les Jamelles. Who knew that one day, as in today, we’d be living only 20 minutes away from this winery. In Georgia we had access to only a few of their wines but here we could try and take with us all 35 or more varieties that they offer. It pays to live in Wine Country!

Back to that song in the first paragraph, it continues with “What I’ve got they used to call the blues” and winds down with what I think is the answer, “Funny, but it seems that it’s the only thing to do”ꟷgo on a secret road trip, of course, and we’re ready!