#39 A week in Hérault

I had my 31st birthday last week. It still feels a bit weird being completely past my twenties. Here, I am just still flailing around, trying to figure out life as I go. At least it's exciting.

For the occasion, Robin and I took off to the Hérault department and explored it for a week. Robin currently has a slight knee injury, so we were a bit limited in our activities: no climbing, swimming or hiking, but plenty of eating, wine tasting, village hopping, and library browsing.

Here are some highlights:

• Morning start at the café in Saint-Jean-de-Buèges, warm sweater, hot coffee and croissant
• Truly stunning church in St-Guilhem-Le-Désert, pond with carps in the inner garden, warm and quiet light
• Twisting roads lined with plane trees, sun rays piercing through, long shadows
• White wine at a wine bar terrace in Sète, a plate of fresh oysters from the producer stall next door
• Sharing wine and a meal in Karima's flat in Montpellier, floor made of old flat stones
• Second-hand bookstore in Pézenas, old beautiful books about oddly specific topics
• A winemaker and his wife in Minerve, his hands still full of dirt from the vineyard as we are savoring the wine
• Ice cream and coffee in the church square of Sauve, a fresh breeze in the late afternoon light

We met several people on the way — always open, and friendly, often creative. From this short trip, I come back with the renewed motivation to make my own soap, knit something from A to Z, paint some more. Good thing that these are all winter-friendly activities. ENDCHAR