Did I say Devon?

What I meant to say is that there is also a longstanding farm cider-making tradition in France, as reader Clair reminds me:

I live in a small French village in the heart of France and every year in October, there is a celebration of local autumn produce. Having read your post about apple juice and cider, I thought you might be interested in the pictures I took there last weekend.

The apples are pressed between two layers of clean straw which act as
padding on top and filter at the bottom. The resulting juice is either
sold as apple juice on the spot over the weekend or collected in
wooden barrels like those shown in the picture and left to ferment for
a while.

The apples are given by the locals (anyone with an apple tree is
asked to donate and all are happy to do so) and they get a free
taste in lieu of payment!

Now that’s what I call a great way to spend a weekend! It looks very like what I saw twenty-plus years ago in the Southwest of England (though don’t anyone tell those folks I said so).

And have I mentioned in a while what a delight it is keeping a blog like joepastry.com? To have readers around the globe who constantly offer up their own insights, information and (on occasion) photography?

What more could any food geek want? I tell you, friends, I am a lucky, lucky man.