Sam: Bonjour and welcome to French en route, the podcast for French learners. In this podcast, we’ll hear real-life stories from the French-speaking world — in French, of course! My name’s Sam. I’m here to help you out with the less familiar phrases and vocabulary, and give you a few cultural tips along the way. All you need to do is relax, listen carefully and enjoy the journey!

To make things easier, we’ve put together a synchronized transcript that you can read whilst listening. You can find this, alongside images and videos related to each episode, at babbel.com/podcasts or follow the link in the episode description.

So, where are we off to today? Our destination is the Loire Valley.

Benjamin, who grew up in a little village on the banks of the Loire river — the longest river in France — is going to tell us about his experience among les vignes — the ‘grape vines’. And what's he doing there? Well, c'est les vendanges — it's the grape harvest season, the most important time in the vintner's calendar, which happens each year from late August to early October. The Loire Valley — le Val de Loire — is the third biggest wine-producing region in France.

Ready for a taste of French winemaking? Then let’s go!

Benjamin: Bonjour, je m’appelle Benjamin. J’ai grandi dans un village du Val de Loire.

Mon village est au bord du plus long fleuve de France, la Loire. Et surtout, ma région est célèbre pour deux choses : le vin et les châteaux !

Autour de la Loire, il y a des milliers d’hectares de vignes et les plus beaux châteaux de France !

Mais mon histoire ne se passe pas dans un château royal. Elle se passe dans un petit château producteur de vin rouge …

Sam: The Loire valley is a region that’s not only celebrated for its wine but also for its beautiful renaissance castles. I should add that it’s also a UNESCO world heritage site, the birthplace of the French language and the historic seat of French royalty! In fact château, which means ‘castle’, is also the word for a vineyard, which is why Benjamin says his story doesn’t take place dans un château royal — “in a royal castle”, but rather dans un château producteur de vin rouge — “in a red wine-producing vineyard”.

This region produces not only red wine, however, but also a large variety of other wines — white, rosé, dry and sweet, and its speciality is sparkling wines.

So, let’s pay a visit to this little vineyard, shall we?

Benjamin: Le vin, c’est une histoire de famille ! Ma mère travaille dans les vignes toute l’année.

La première fois que je fais les vendanges, j’ai neuf ou dix ans. Je suis avec mon grand-père et ses copains.

Je coupe le raisin, je le mets dans mon petit panier. Et quand mon panier devient trop lourd, mon grand-père le porte pour moi.

À la fin, il me donne un peu d’argent. J’achète des bonbons : c’est génial …

Sam: Wine is in Benjamin’s blood! His mum works among the vines every year and he says that he’s nine or ten the first time he takes part in the grape harvest. He’s with his granddad and his granddad’s friends. Je coupe le raisin — I cut off the grapes, he says. Then he puts them in his little basket — dans son petit panier — and when it gets too heavy, his granddad carries it for him. At the end, his granddad gives Benjamin a bit of money to buy sweets! Benjamin told me that when he got a bit older, his granddad continued to reward him for his work, but instead of sweets he got… guess what? A slug of wine mixed with a lot of water! Sort of like a syrup… a very French syrup, that is!

Benjamin: À 19 ans, je vais faire les vendanges au Château de Parnay. Deux semaines. Cette fois, c’est pour de vrai ! Mon grand-père n’est plus là pour porter mon panier !

Je dois me débrouiller tout seul et le travail est très dur …

Tous les jours, on est dans les vignes, sous le soleil ou sous la pluie. C'est super fatigant. On est pliés en deux du matin au soir. J’ai mal au dos, mal aux jambes.

Mal PARTOUT … Heureusement, ma mère, mes frères, des amis travaillent avec moi … Et surtout, il y a Manon …

Sam: He’s now nineteen, and goes to take part in the harvest for two weeks at Château de Parnay. Cette fois, c’est pour de vrai ! “This time it’s for real!” and granddad’s not around to carry his basket. It’s really hard work — le travail est très dur and, he says: Je dois me débrouiller tout seul — “I have to manage alone”, every day, rain or shine. He’s bent double — plié en deux — from dawn to dusk and is sore all over, but, Benjamin told me, the view is definitely worth it! The vineyards are on the hillsides and when you're at the top, the view is gorgeous: you can see the river Loire, the villages and castles… How romantique! Speaking of which, who is Manon?!

Benjamin: Manon a 19 ans aussi. Elle travaille à côté de moi … On s’aide beaucoup. J’aime bien parler avec elle. Le soir après le travail, on boit l’apéro ensemble au château.

Le dernier jour des vendanges, elle est bizarre … Derrière les vignes, cachée sous les raisins, elle se met à rire. Je me dis : Qu’est-ce qu'elle a ?! Tout à coup, elle pousse un vrai cri de guerre …

Manon: BATAILLE DE RAISIIIIN !!!

Sam: Oh right, so Manon is Benjamin’s sidekick! They work on the same row of vines together. Benjamin tells us on s’aide beaucoup — “We help each other a lot.” 

So, what do this duo do all day? Benjamin doesn’t say this but they’re both coupeurs (cutters), which means they’re in charge of cutting off and sorting the grapes. When their buckets are full, they call the carrier — le porteur — and they pour the grapes they’ve harvested into the sack he carries on his back. The carrier then pours it all into the trailer of the tractor.

So how do they relax after a hard day’s work? On boit l’apéro ensemble au château. “We drink an aperitif together at the vineyard.” Where else? 

Then comes the last day of harvest and Manon, who’s behind the vines, hidden beneath the grapes, starts laughing. Benjamin’s wondering what’s up, when, all of a sudden, she cries… “Grape war!!!” Grape what?!!!

Benjamin: Une minute plus tard, Manon est en face de moi. Mes frères arrivent, puis Romain, Tony, Lydie, Valentin … Ils sont tous là. Autour de moi.

Une vraie armée … Et ils lancent le raisin sur moi ! C’est la GUERRE !

Le raisin vole au-dessus de nos têtes ! Il colle sur les habits et sur les chaussures … On est rouges de la tête aux pieds. On rit beaucoup.

On est super joyeux mais un peu tristes aussi, parce que c’est la fin des vendanges … 

Sam: How sad! C'est la fin des vendanges … “It’s the end of the harvest.” 

But at least they’re having fun. Because suddenly Benjamin is surrounded: Ils sont tous là. Autour de moi. His brothers and friends are throwing grapes at him — it’s war! The grapes are flying, sticking to clothes and shoes. On est rouges de la tête aux pieds, says Benjamin: “We’re red from head to foot!” They’re laughing, they’re happy.

I’ve been told that the Bataille de raisin is a bit of a French tradition that gives the grape pickers a chance to let off steam after all of that hard work. 

But what happens once the battle is over?

Benjamin: Le soir, le château organise un grand barbecue dans le jardin. C’est une tradition à la fin des vendanges.

Le château offre le vin et on mange du pâté, du fromage, et … BEAUCOUP DE viande ! On discute, on s’amuse beaucoup.

Manon est à côté de moi. J'espère vraiment la revoir l’année prochaine. Parce que c’est sûr, je vais revenir pour les vendanges. Et j’espère revoir tous ces visages, ces sourires, ces amis …

Mais cette fois, je connais la tradition de la bataille de raisin ! 
 Alors … attention … je suis prêt !

Sam: That evening, the vineyard organizes a big barbeque — another harvest tradition. The wine is flowing, there’s pâté, cheese and, because this is France, HEAPS of meat! It’s a lot of fun and a great way to round up the harvest experience. Manon est à côté de moi, says Benjamin. Manon is beside him, and he’s hoping to see her and the smiling faces of his friends again next year when he returns for another harvest.
But watch out, because next time he’ll be ready for… the grape war!

The grape harvest attracts a diverse bunch of people — the young, the old, families, groups of friends, agricultural workers and even a few working vacationers. Sounds like a fun way to improve your French, right? Well, now you’ve got the vocabulary for it, such as:

Je fais les vendanges — ‘I harvest the grapes’

On s’aide beaucoup — ‘we help each other a lot’, and…

On boit l’apéro — ‘we drink an aperitif’

In this story, you also heard some prepositions of place, such as dans, sous, and sur… If you want to learn more about prepositions of place and how to say where you last saw your wine glass, check out our Babbel lessons!

So, that’s it from the wine-soaked Loire Valley. If you enjoyed Benjamin’s story but didn’t understand everything, remember you can replay each episode as many times as you like! Repetition is super useful, so just rewind and listen again. As ever, if you’re feeling confident, you can also listen to the French-only version without my commentary!

We’d love to hear your feedback, which you can send us via email at podcasting@babbel.com or directly through your preferred podcast app.

And if you’re super keen, you can also fill in the survey you’ll find in the episode description.

Thanks for listening and see you for the next episode of French en route …
 
 A bientôt ! See you soon!