Le Grand Anniversaire de Martin

This weekend we celebrated Martin's quarter of a century birthday. For his actual birthday on Friday, post-work, we enjoyed a bottle of Chapoutier at a cafe in Tournon overlooking the river towards Tain l'Hermitage. Later we were joined by another intern, so of course we had another glass of marsanne, which cost 2 euros per glass! Corinne made an incredible dinner that concluded with a cake made of Valhrona chocolate. Martin blew out all 25 candles in one breath! 

Saturday, we continued at work, receiving both red and white grapes. At about 7pm, we headed to a small town in the Ardeche called Saint-Paul-Trois-Chateaux where we stayed for the night (compliments of Martin's parents). Our hotel was adorable, typical Provencal, and the service was excellent. We wandered down to the village and found the main plaza where we ate dinner outside. 

Sunday, we headed to the Gorge de L'Ardeche for a 24km canoe trip. Kate claimed the back position for herself (per the suggestion of Guillaume who said you get soaked in the front spot). After zig-zagging our way across a still, wide river, we realized Guillaume had played a prank on Kate... knowing that she wasn't strong enough to maneuver the canoe, and ultimately we would spend our day trying to master the art of canoe steering. (This is the man we live with... our days are full of hysterical pranks!) So about 15 minutes into our trip, we switched and Kate perched herself in front. 

The views of the gorge were amazing! After each corner, we came to another beautiful granite face. 

Around 2pm, we spotted a large granite slab ideal for lunch. Martin hoisted the canoe up on the rock and we sat down for a delicious picnic of bread, cheese, tomato, peach, chocolate and a white Cote-du-Rhone. 

We arrived safely from our trip, although a little tired and sore arms. Sitting in the car was a nice relief, and we sipped on two complimentary lemon sodas. Our GPS guided us back home, but along the way, she took us down a road that was similar (if not more curvy) to Lomard Street in San Francisco. Of course this road had a speed limit of 90kph; we maxed at 40, and it was a two-lane road... barely. We switched back and forth numerous times before arriving in a tiny village with an incredible chateaux perched on the hilltop. We couldn't help but to stop and snap photos. It made us even more excited for our travels after our stagiere. 

Wonderful way to start Martin's next quarter of a century.