Beaujolais Nouveau and la greve encore!

Tonight at midnight, the first bottles of Beaujolais Nouveau will be opened. This will be the first time that I'll be in France for this event. In Washington, DC, the francophile crowd would go crazy about Beaujolais Nouveau every year. French restaurants would run out of dinner reservations weeks in advance, and people would crowd into the bar, waiting for midnight when the wine would be opened. I assumed things would be equally as festive here in France, although while trying to rally support from my French coworkers to go out with me tonight, I was met with mediocre enthusiasm.

The typical Beaujolais Nouveau we get in the US is rouge (red). But, according to this article (in French), there will be a rose for the first time ever in France, and the blanc (white) will not be produced this year. I'll have to try to get my hands on a bottle of the Beaujolais Nouveau rose.

The other news today is la greve! Like in October, the train employees will be going on strike to protest possible changes to their retirement plans. This strike is supposed to be much worse than the last, with an indefinite duration. I'm returning to the US on Friday for Thanksgiving week ... and I have a feeling I'm going to be taking a 50 euro taxi ride to the airport instead of the 8 euro metro!