Olive Harvest in Provence

By Xander

We started our journey by leaving Basel in a snow storm. The drive was long but we stopped for lunch at a bistro place in Beaune called L’Ardoise that served amazing steak. We finished our drive listening to the audio book Tale of Despereaux before we arrived in Provence.

We were staying with my mom’s friend Elizabeth’s family at their house near the small village of Maubec. They have this old stone house with farm land all around it. There were many olive trees and the house was beautiful. Elizabeth said it was a former silk worm farm. We ate a soup dinner and went to bed early for the big harvest the next day.

The next day we woke up early and got croissants, bread, and coffee in a small town called Gordes. The town was beautiful and was on top of a hill overlooking the region.

After breakfast we got to work harvesting the olives. There are many strategies to harvesting olives. You can pick, rake, or smash. Us, being the Lang family, used the smashing strategy. We found large sticks from around the property and smacked the olive trees until the olives fell off of them. Elizabeth said this was ok and I think she even picked us to come, knowing we would be good smashers.

We did this for many hours before lunch. After eating a lunch of soup and quiche we headed back into our place for reading and a nap.

After our rest we got back to work. By this time we had mastered the art of olive harvesting and were basically pros. By the end of the day we had harvested 19 crates of olives.

After a long day of work it was time for a Provencal fish feast called bouillabaisse. We drove to a small restaurant called Auberge La Table Paysanne and started to eat.

Our first course was mussels and sausage with a soup at the bottom. It was delicious and we ate too much.

The second course was a bit more complex. We had to put mayonnaise and cheese on a crouton and then float it into a fish soup. This was probably my favourite course.

Then came the fish. Lots and lots of fish. If I remember correctly there were four or five courses of different fish and the chef kept coming out to check that we liked everything and make sure we were eating everything. The fish was incredible, but there was way too much.

Then there was a desert of cheese and bread and a second desert of cake and a donut. Overall the dinner was delicious and probably the most fish I have eaten in my lifetime.

The next day we packed up. Olive harvest was over. Elizabeth’s husband Omri, was bringing the olives to the press and then we would all have olive oil. We drove home, listening to the audio book Scythe, which we all loved but did not finish. Until the next trip.

Overall the trip to Provence was amazing. We had fun picking olives and stuffing ourself with food.