0°直徑＝腳下到法蘭西

01 著陸

擔(dān)任訂票小助手的雞，好不容易搶到了兩張?zhí)貏e便宜的機(jī)票，然而這省下來(lái)的成本當(dāng)然是“一分錢一分貨”地反映在航程的萬(wàn)般不便上。去程必須要在廣州中轉(zhuǎn)，回程則更是奔波，要停廣州和大連兩地。

不過(guò)瘋狂轉(zhuǎn)機(jī)也絲毫不會(huì)減損小氣雞、犬對(duì)便宜機(jī)票的鐘愛，我們兩人就這樣拎著家當(dāng)、細(xì)軟，輾轉(zhuǎn)、徘徊了半天。首先在午夜的廣州機(jī)場(chǎng)晃了五個(gè)小時(shí)，終于登機(jī)后，又恰巧坐在一位爛醉的大爺后排，他雖然頂上無(wú)毛但是深具影帝風(fēng)范，頭上、腳下跌跌撞撞的，一入座就先在座椅上又踢又跳地演了一出“貴妃醉酒remix大鬧天宮”，犬提心吊膽地關(guān)注著大爺?shù)膭?dòng)靜，生怕他的椅背萬(wàn)一被一腳踹倒，就正好壓扁背后的自己。

結(jié)果大爺戲唱到一半，又莫名其妙地悲從中來(lái)，不顧飛機(jī)已在滑行，聲淚俱下地掏出手機(jī)打給遠(yuǎn)方的老母，嗚嗚咽咽地說(shuō)著：“媽媽，請(qǐng)你也要保重?！彼北茩C(jī)上廣播的音量很快就把空服員和周遭同艙的小伙伴們?nèi)俭@呆了，爭(zhēng)相奔來(lái)要他趕緊關(guān)機(jī)，我們都想要安全起飛??！說(shuō)時(shí)遲那時(shí)快，光頭“影帝”又使出兩秒鐘往生的絕技，瞬間鼾聲大作。

活寶靜下來(lái)之后大家驚魂略定，雞、犬面面相覷地想著，這到底會(huì)是一趟什么樣子的旅行?。坎贿^(guò)隨著飛機(jī)上燈光漸暗，夜也越來(lái)越深，我們逐漸陷入睡睡醒醒的恍惚境界。感覺才是一眨眼，十一個(gè)小時(shí)后，我們總算是著陸在法蘭西大陸的土地上。

02 車窗外

這是一個(gè)煥然一新的早晨，巴黎的陽(yáng)光溫和而明朗，帶著如同最輕盈清澈的玻璃般的質(zhì)地，昨晚機(jī)上的鬧劇很快就已經(jīng)遠(yuǎn)離得像是一場(chǎng)即將忘記的夢(mèng)境。

雞、犬在戴高樂機(jī)場(chǎng)取了租的車。由于法國(guó)巷道是出了名的狹窄，所以我們這回租了臺(tái)迷你的Smart，車容量只能剛好供我們兩人乘坐，并且剛好可以塞入兩件行李。取了車之后，擔(dān)任司機(jī)的雞（之后讀者們會(huì)慢慢發(fā)現(xiàn)雞的角色非常多功能）排擋一打、油門兒一踩就直奔上路。不打算在巴黎停留，一路向南駛向波爾多。聽見波爾多這個(gè)地名，大家都不難猜中醉雞和醉犬心中究竟是打著什么算盤了吧，對(duì)的！我們這次法國(guó)之旅就是要來(lái)個(gè)不醉不歸?。髅鞯侥膬憾际遣蛔聿粴w。）

巴黎到波爾多之間的直線距離接近六百公里，由于“鐵公雞重癥”再度發(fā)作，為了節(jié)省過(guò)路費(fèi)，我們用時(shí)間換取金錢，避開高速公路，改走普通公路。

這是與法國(guó)鄉(xiāng)間道路的初次接觸，那些市道、省道領(lǐng)著我們穿過(guò)了許多大、中、小城鎮(zhèn)和古樸的小村莊以及更多遼闊的一望無(wú)際的田地、柔和起伏的山丘、茂密的森林。法國(guó)鄉(xiāng)間的景色極為迷人，讓人充分感受到這片平緩的大地是如此妖嬈。各種作物叢生而繁盛，大畦大畦的馬鈴薯、玉米，還有許多我無(wú)法辨認(rèn)的莊稼。

/車窗外的風(fēng)景/

最壯觀的是遼闊廣袤的麥田，這個(gè)時(shí)節(jié)的麥子在北方依舊是一片正在長(zhǎng)的綠葉（幾天后我們?nèi)チ四戏剑@兒的麥子還是青綠的野草長(zhǎng)相，到了那兒逐漸轉(zhuǎn)為成熟飽滿的金黃色的沉甸甸的麥穗），那些未來(lái)會(huì)變成粗麥稈的麥莖和麥葉，現(xiàn)在依舊十分柔嫩，它們好像彼此商量好了似的，全都長(zhǎng)得差不多齊頭高，所以無(wú)數(shù)小小的葉尖就肩并肩地頂出了一個(gè)寬大、致密又軟綿綿的平面。

熱烈的陽(yáng)光下，那些青綠色的濃密麥田，就像是一床鋪在地上、剛剛被太陽(yáng)烤過(guò)的又松又軟的綠色大棉被，棉被里的空氣全都被烘得干燥、溫暖又鼓脹，撐得這塊有著小麥質(zhì)地的大被子，看起來(lái)要多蓬松就有多蓬松，要多柔軟就有多柔軟，感覺舒服極了。

鄉(xiāng)間道路上沒有太多人，來(lái)來(lái)往往多是為了節(jié)省過(guò)路費(fèi)的大卡車。我們看到了奇怪的景象，在那些像是荒郊野外的道路邊上，居然總站著幾位女子，好整以暇地好像在等公交車一樣守候著。這些女人多數(shù)是黑人或拉丁人等有色人種，濃妝艷抹、衣衫鮮明，看起來(lái)就像是在大白天出沒的狐貍精一樣與周遭環(huán)境格格不入，極為搶眼。我相信即使是半夜行車的駕駛者，也不可能走神兒撞上她們。

此時(shí)雞忽然憶起一篇有關(guān)法國(guó)應(yīng)召女的報(bào)道，她們專門在路邊招徠卡車司機(jī)。這下再看，果然那些女子有些已經(jīng)上了年紀(jì)，有些則看起來(lái)整體像一架米其林輪胎的巨型蠶寶寶，總之，她們的外表實(shí)在算不上有吸引力，我們猜想這些女人就是那群遠(yuǎn)走鄉(xiāng)野、專營(yíng)長(zhǎng)途卡車司機(jī)的阻街女郎。

這令犬想起在韓國(guó)一些比較老舊的旅館過(guò)夜時(shí)，有幾回曾在邊上暗巷中見到標(biāo)榜“咖啡外送”的店鋪，由于外觀昏暗又陳舊，我不禁好奇詢問雞這是怎么回事，我們能上那里喝咖啡嗎？雞覺得好笑地回答說(shuō)那是應(yīng)召站啦！如果你打電話去那種店點(diǎn)杯咖啡，會(huì)由一位徐娘半老的“阿珠媽”（“大嬸”的韓語(yǔ)音譯），把一杯加了生雞蛋的咖啡（補(bǔ)充精力的飲料）送到你在的旅館房間里，然后進(jìn)行性交易，此款咖啡店可跟一般家庭主婦去的那種邊喝咖啡邊聊是非的咖啡廳一點(diǎn)兒都不相關(guān)?。?/p>

一只雞的生活意見 Paris to Loire Valley 巴黎到盧瓦爾谷地

Not so Smart on the Highway 放聰明點(diǎn)兒，別上高速

On this trip to France，Chicken drove 2845 kilometers over two weeks，from Charles de Gaulle Airport directly to Bordeaux（with just a short stop in Loire Valley）to Soulac-sur-Mer to Saint Emilion to Rocamadour to Sete to Nimes to Avignon to Vienne to Beaune to Gevery-Chambertin to Dijon to Epernay to Reims and then back to the airport．Dog wanted to drive，but we couldn’t find an appropriate place for her to learn how to drive manual．

We rented a black Smart fortwo with only 1500 kilometers on it．The lady at the counter looked at me as if I was crazy when I said I was taking the car south，in response to her question whether I will just be using it in Paris．She kept repeating that it was a very small car，“tres petit，tres petit”．I started to see why there was a special on this car（it was only Euro 339 for the whole two weeks with full collision damage waiver）．

I hadn’t driven a manual in about 10 years，but it came back quickly and I realized how much fun my left feet had in the past synchronizing with the sound of the engine and a flick of the wrist．The fortwo had no tachometer so I couldn’t tell how high I was revving，but it’s a rental and rentals are meant to be revved hard．Acceleration was slow，but responsive enough．The car felt surprisingly spacious（if I didn’t look back，I would have thought it was a much bigger car ——this may be because of the car’s somewhat high profile，compared to some of the driving cars that I had in the past）．

Taking the no toll，local roads，the fortwo performed admirably．This was because the roads were mostly flat and the speed limit only 90 or 110．Passing through the many rotaries was fun as the car was happy to shift down and take the turns quickly．

However，I began to comprehend the limits of this car when we took a few highways when we needed to get somewhere faster．From Bordeaux to Rocamadour or Dijon to Reims，the terrain was more hilly with several stretches of long climbs．At the beginning of these climbs，I would be going about 140 on fifth gear and regardless that I was flooring the gas，the speed would start dropping to 130，120．Downshift to fourth and still dropping to 110．Only on third would I be able to get back up to about 120．Luckily，the many trucks on Frances’roads generally only travel 110．Maintaining that 120 to the top of the climb and then I would be able to accelerate again．

Inside city limits like those in Avignon or Nimes with their narrow alleyways，the car was fantastic．It easily fit through anything，could park anywhere（the box foot print also made parallel parking amazingly easy），and I could do u-turns tighter than if I were on my bicycle．And it did feel as if I was riding a bike rather than driving a car．

The drive also showed me how traditional，or developed，or meticulous or cultured，the French are．Driving was a pure joy in the predictability of the traffic and how people drive．The left lane is always empty unless someone was overtaking and the cars in the middle land drove faster than those on the right．

The French seem to have long ago determined what is the right way and people follow that．This trip wasn’t meant to be a wine trip，but it ended up being one and the way the French drive seem to have analogies to the way they cultivate wine．

The first wine we had was a Sancerre white from Loire Valley，meaning it was made from sauvignon blanc grapes．As we drove on，left bank Bordeaux reds were mainly cabernet sauvignon，right bank red Bordeaux mainly merlot，shiraz and granche as we drove through Sete and Avignon，great pinot noirs and chardonnays in Burgundy，and few traditional grapes for the bubblies in Epernay and Reims．

So，throughout the centuries，the French had determined which area is suited for which grapes and their appellation bodies were meticulous in having people follow tried and true methods and recipes．In the New World，just as the driving is erratic with people driving slowly in the left lane，passing on the right or undertaking Sunday glides，the wines are sometimes erratic．

I appreciate the predictability and efficiency of the drive in France as well as knowing that if I choose a wine from Margaux it will taste a certain way and one from Gevery-Chambertin another way，with slight differences relating to that particular plot of land or the wine maker．But sometimes，I also like the surprise and creativity shown by New World winemakers as swerving in and out of traffic might get you to your destination faster．

I just hope the future of wine is not like the future of driving，where robots and their artificial intelligence will control vehicles for the safety of humans and to eliminate accidents．That would create a wine that is boring and lifeless．I think French wines benefited from trial and error in the past，but the accidents occurring in other places will create impetus for development．

在此次法國(guó)旅行的兩周里，雞駕了超過(guò)2845公里的車，從巴黎的戴高樂機(jī)場(chǎng)直接去波爾多（只在盧瓦爾谷地短暫停留），之后經(jīng)過(guò)了濱海蘇拉克、圣愛美濃、羅卡馬杜爾、塞特、尼姆、阿維尼翁、維埃納、博訥、熱夫雷-尚貝坦、第戎、埃佩爾奈、蘭斯，最后回到巴黎機(jī)場(chǎng)。犬雖然也躍躍欲試想要幫忙開車，但我們找不到適當(dāng)?shù)膱?chǎng)地教她如何開手排車。

我們租了一臺(tái)小黑Smart fortwo，它剛到手時(shí)的里程數(shù)僅僅有1500公里。租車柜臺(tái)的大姐隨口詢問雞、犬是否打算在巴黎市區(qū)繞繞，然而當(dāng)我表明兩人的計(jì)劃是駕著小黑一路向南的時(shí)候，她流露出一種在路上撞見瘋子的眼神看著我，并且用法語(yǔ)連聲驚呼：“太小了！太小了！”那只是一臺(tái)非常迷你的小車車?。‖F(xiàn)在我能理解為何這臺(tái)車萬(wàn)年特價(jià)了，整整兩周的租金加上兩周的意外全險(xiǎn)，只花了我們339歐元。（犬：但是我還是無(wú)法理解為何這臺(tái)小破車居然售價(jià)十五萬(wàn)人民幣?。?/p>

我大概已經(jīng)有十年未曾駕駛手排車，但是很快就找回了順暢的手感，而且這才體會(huì)到過(guò)去的駕車體驗(yàn)真是充滿了肢體運(yùn)動(dòng)的樂趣——左腳在引擎的轟然巨響中踩、放離合器踏板，手腕趁勢(shì)同步搭配一抖，瞬間變換擋位。然而這臺(tái)兩人小車的儀表板上沒有轉(zhuǎn)速表，駕駛者無(wú)法準(zhǔn)確得知當(dāng)下的提速，不過(guò)，反正車是租來(lái)的，不必顧忌損耗，我就依本能聆聽引擎的振動(dòng)，盡情暢快地猛換擋、踩油門兒。小黑雖然大體而言加速緩慢，但是反應(yīng)已足夠敏捷，車子內(nèi)部令人感到出乎意料的寬敞（如果我不回頭看的話，我真會(huì)以為自己在開一臺(tái)更大的車，可能是因?yàn)檫@臺(tái)車與我過(guò)去的幾臺(tái)舊車相比，頂上的空間頗高）。

不走高速公路時(shí)，小黑在鄉(xiāng)間道路的駕車表現(xiàn)實(shí)在令人傾心。這是因?yàn)槟切┞吠ǔＦ骄彾蚁匏?0公里或110公里，特別是當(dāng)我們駛過(guò)那些小圓環(huán)時(shí)更是充滿趣味，車子會(huì)很開心地讓我打到低擋，然后像是滑一樣溜轉(zhuǎn)而過(guò)。

然而熟識(shí)小黑后，我也開始領(lǐng)悟到它的不足之處。當(dāng)我們必須趕路到遠(yuǎn)方，將它駛上高速路的時(shí)候則會(huì)顯現(xiàn)。從波爾多到羅卡馬杜爾，或從第戎到蘭斯，這些路段需要穿過(guò)許多起伏的丘陵，所以有不少路段是長(zhǎng)而直的爬坡。在爬坡的起點(diǎn)，小黑的速度大概還能維持在第五擋140公里左右，然而無(wú)視我腳的油門兒已踩到底，時(shí)速表上的指針就開始像泄氣的氣球一樣開始往下掉，130，120……就算是打到四擋也還是一蹶不振地跌到110公里，只有打到三擋才能夠重拾一點(diǎn)兒雄風(fēng)，再次回到120公里的時(shí)速。不過(guò)還好，大部分的法國(guó)卡車在路上都很規(guī)范，會(huì)維持平均時(shí)速110公里，所以如果我又飆回120公里的話，還是能勉強(qiáng)超車。

開在城市里的窄巷里，像在阿維尼翁和尼姆，小黑真是個(gè)“啵棒”（犬翻譯的這個(gè)詞真老派）。它能不費(fèi)吹灰之力地鉆進(jìn)各個(gè)縫隙、泊在任何角落（而且這車的車型就像一個(gè)大方盒，把車倒正簡(jiǎn)直不可思議地輕易），最神奇的是它回轉(zhuǎn)時(shí)就像是在原地打轉(zhuǎn)掉頭一樣，回轉(zhuǎn)半徑之小，簡(jiǎn)直可以媲美一輛自行車。對(duì)，駕馭小黑與其說(shuō)是開車，還不如說(shuō)像是在騎我的自行車。

在路上開車的同時(shí)，我也發(fā)現(xiàn)了法國(guó)社會(huì)是多么有規(guī)矩、先進(jìn)、細(xì)致并且有風(fēng)度。駕車是純?nèi)惠p松、愉快的樂事，因?yàn)槲铱梢暂p易預(yù)料他人行車的路線，還有其他駕駛者將會(huì)如何開車。比如最基本的，左線總是留空以做超車道，最右線則是慢車道。

法國(guó)人似乎老早就想好了最佳的方法，然后人們按部就班地遵循。雖然葡萄酒之旅并非雞、犬這趟旅行的原意，然而最后卻意外地演變成那樣。我從法國(guó)人駕車的作風(fēng)似乎也可以推及他們培養(yǎng)葡萄酒之道。

我們喝的第一杯葡萄酒是來(lái)自盧瓦爾谷地的桑塞爾白葡萄酒，這意味著它是由蘇維翁白葡萄釀造的。而隨著小黑繼續(xù)向前，在波爾多左岸的紅酒多是卡本內(nèi)蘇維翁，而波爾多市右岸則多是梅洛。希拉和格納希是在塞特和阿維尼翁時(shí)遇見的。而當(dāng)我們來(lái)到勃艮第，總算嘗到了偉大的黑皮諾和霞多麗。另外在尼姆與埃佩爾奈的氣泡酒，則是另外一些當(dāng)?shù)貍鹘y(tǒng)的葡萄種類。

總之，穿越漫長(zhǎng)的好幾個(gè)世紀(jì)，法國(guó)人已經(jīng)拍板制定了細(xì)則，哪個(gè)區(qū)域適合哪種葡萄，而他們產(chǎn)區(qū)限定的嚴(yán)格規(guī)矩，則詳盡地要求后人遵從屢試不爽、顛撲不破的方式與配方。相比而言，新世界的作風(fēng)則像是與開車不穩(wěn)定的駕駛?cè)嗽诓⒓缧熊?，有時(shí)候慢車開到左線，或從右邊超車，再者就是些瘋狂的“周日駕駛者”……類推到葡萄酒的制造上的話，來(lái)自新世界的酒，品質(zhì)時(shí)常不太恒定。

（犬注：“Sunday glide”這個(gè)詞指的是缺乏經(jīng)驗(yàn)的駕駛，雞解釋：“比如像唯有在周日上教堂時(shí)才開車的老太太，她們總是異常龜速、猶疑地開上高速公路，無(wú)視道路慣例，一入交流道就眼睛眨也不眨地橫切三個(gè)車道、直接殺進(jìn)最內(nèi)線，然后保持八風(fēng)吹不動(dòng)的低速，全程擋在超車道上。”）

我很欣賞法國(guó)駕駛?cè)说暮侠砼c效率，這道理就如同選一只馬爾戈產(chǎn)區(qū)的酒，我能預(yù)料它嘗起來(lái)的味道，而來(lái)自熱夫雷-尚貝坦的，則又會(huì)是另外一個(gè)味道，其中再因不同地塊和釀酒師而細(xì)分差異。不過(guò)有時(shí)候，我也喜歡新世界葡萄酒帶給我的驚奇與創(chuàng)造性，好比偶爾破例在車陣中蛇行猛換車道、亂開一通，可能還真的會(huì)快一點(diǎn)兒。

我只希望未來(lái)的酒不會(huì)像未來(lái)的交通工具一樣，改由機(jī)器人和人工智能控制，雖然可以減少事故，保證乘客的生命安全，但那樣將產(chǎn)出無(wú)聊又沒生命力的“酒”來(lái)。我認(rèn)為法國(guó)葡萄酒之好，得益于他們老祖宗在過(guò)去的實(shí)驗(yàn)和試錯(cuò)。至于在其他地方出現(xiàn)的“創(chuàng)舉”，則會(huì)成為另一種繼續(xù)前進(jìn)發(fā)展的動(dòng)力。