first job completed successfully

apricot photo from here (source)

Sorry I haven't updated this blog in so long but apricot picking really makes you tired after a long 10 hour day. I finished working at Pitlou Fruits yesterday and I guess I should start off explaining exactly how it works.

every morning I would get up around 5.30am, prepare some lunch maybe some pasta, bbq chicken, sandwiches or just bread and cheese, not forgetting to pack a litre and a half of water.

at 6.30 I was picked up in a small minibus from the train station with a crazy bizzaro mix of people who had managed to score the same job as me. The language of choice was Portugese, not good for me, especially after hoping I would get some time to practice my french. Among the crowd of fools were Polacks, Moldovians, African political refugees and the odd french or german dude.

It was ten 15 or 16 people to a 13 person minibus winding up the mountainside to the depot where we would split up and assinged a patch for the day, after that its just lots of picking using a basket with a hook to hang it on the trees.

There was ridiculous views of the mountain and sion airport where I would watch planes cruise into the blue sky, plenty of birdsong, awesome banquets for lunch and even the odd garbled french conversation. Sometimes I was lucky to be paired with an English speaker which is probably the only thing that stopped me from getting brain damaged from lack of conversation. I met some awesome guys from Normandy, one with a outrageous understanding of international slapstick humor, making me laugh without speaking a word of any language and another who spoke amazing English who really helped me with my french!



Anyway im tanned, happy, have a little money and I'm waiting to start work at somewhere that turns fruit into something useful... Alcohol! Next I'll be working at the famous Morand Distillery in Martigny, Switzerland

helping to make this


anyway enough about work, now lets talk about play...

I've had so much fun and awesome adventures, most recently at the weekend it was my friends Pablo & Julies birthday party held 1299 metres up on the north face of mount-che, the views were breathtaking, we had bbq's and beer and raclette and french boules with finnish cyclists and lost scouts, I have too much to write and none of the motivation to do so, there are a lot of pictures I will upload too when I get the cable to get them off my camera. In the meantime heres a photo of looking confused with a giant beer in my favourite bistro in sion, La Grenette.


and one or two from when we climed Mount Noble

my friend Steffan showing me where all the cool places are including a fascicst village :O
At the top
map at the top showing us all of the mountains in site! including Mont-Blanc!


Steffan and Bastien enjoying a well deserved sit down and coffee afterwards in a small stereotypical wooden swiss village.

Stay Safe
Sam x