Now here is a photograph worth framing. It is a picture of my son, Allan, doing some work!.

This time of year the college students in class 4eme all have to go out for a week and experience five days in a job environment. As we live in a wine producing region it was only natural, and practical, for Allan to spend his week with a our neighbour, Olivier, helping out in the vineyards.

As the harvest was in August and September he missed out on the grape picking harvest so he got to be in on the next stage in the vineyard owners life – pruning the vines back for the new growth next spring.

It certainly was good experience for him as he had to be out on the job at 8.am and finished at 5.pm, with the usual tradition of two hours break for lunch. But he enjoyed himself as he was out in the open surrounded by the mountains in the Tautavel region. Some of the vineyard owners have literally thousands of vines to prune each year and it is all done by hand and in all weather conditions. Notice how well rugged up Allan is, he was wearing two layers of clothing that day.

Next he has to write up his weekly summary in a diary and present it to his teacher. In all he has now decided that he would like to work outdoors when he leaves school and I reckon that’s a good thing. I was never one for being cooped up in an office myself and hopefully Allan will follow suit.