I’m staying at a farm right now in the Languedoc-Roussillon area, and pretty much the only thing that the Languedoc has in common with Alsace is that both regions produce a lot of muscat, a white wine grape varietal that is most commonly made into a sweet wine, intended to be served as either a…
Read MoreAll articles filed in Amira K.
Writer, explorer, and keeper of Alder the dog.
Book Review: “Daughter of Smoke and Bone”
Wrote this one out in advance—snagged a few minutes of internet time to post it online. Expect lots more book reviews in coming weeks – with internet access once every few days, I have plenty of time to read. Because I am in the process of working on a young adult fiction novel myself, I’ve…
Read MoreCan I survive for 3 weeks without Internet access?
So here I am in the beautiful, quaint, amazing village of Gimios, France. It’s in the rugged Languedoc region located between the Pyrenees and the sea. The climate is Mediterranean and the region generally has about 300 days of sunshine a year. Everything about it is wonderful–EXCEPT I HAVE NO INTERNET. So how am I posting this, you…
Read MoreThis Is Just About Food
Hi guys. It’s time for another blog entry. But today, I walked over 20 miles, hiking through the forests of the Vosges mountains, and I’m really, really tired. So this one’s going to be simple: just a bunch of photos about food. Food that we eat; food that we make. Alsatian food, German food, French…
Read MoreIn The Cave of a Natural Winery
Whew! It’s been a crazy week. I got a really bad fever and head cold on Wednesday, was completely zonked out on Thursday, worked all day Friday, went to Strasbourg on Saturday, and yesterday spent all morning sleeping/napping and all afternoon hiking around the Vosges mountains. I hope that excuses my lack of blogging for…
Read MoreMission Statement: WWOOF
So, a lot of people have been asking what I’m doing here, in France. Why I decided to come here. Some people seem to think I’m here on whimsy, some sort of pleasure cruise through the winemaking countryside of Europe. One friend asked me if I was a “trust fund baby”, because, of course, how…
Read MoreIn The French Countryside
So, I’ve got a number of blog posts planned for future weeks detailing what, specifically, I’m doing here in France, what I’m eating, what I’m drinking, where we’re working, et cetera. But I thought at first I’d just try to pass on a little bit of this world on the other side of the pond,…
Read MoreAlex Shakar’s “Luminarium” and Why Everyone Must Read It
“Luminarium” is, perhaps, the “L’Etranger” of America’s 21st century. It is a quintessential existential appraisal of life in the jet stream; a marvelous re-examining of all that Americans hold dear in our fast-paced, ambitious, over-eager, petty little lives. “Luminarium” follows the life of Fred Brounian – whose identical twin brother has fallen into a coma…
Read MoreAnd Then I Found Myself
Over the last few days, I have found myself in a number of places and situations that, whether expected or unexpected, took me by surprise. They were also largely beyond my control. Alas, I don’t think that after three days here I can say that I have truly “found” myself in any meaningful sense of…
Read MorePostcards from Europe
Hi guys. I’m going to France on Thursday. I’m going to be living there for a little while. At least three months, but probably more like six, or maybe even a year. Maybe forever. France does that to people. I’m going to be traveling around and working with a number of different wineries, who,…
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The Z-Axis 