anthony85

Hey guys.

So I'm heading into Europe this summer, but on a very tight budget. Just to earn a few extra Euros, I'm setting out to try and find some grape picking type jobs in France. Or anywhere for that matter...

I'm just wondering if there's anyone around who's done a similar thing? If you could maybe help me out with some specific places, or a few directions, that would be great.

Hope everyone has a great summer...whatever you're doing. If you're headin' out to Europe, we might just run into each other. You never know.

Anyway, thanks guys, would appreciate any advice you can give me.



anthony

tumblezweedz

I spent two glorious September hours picking grapes on a perfect day last fall on the Mosel River in Germany. I hope to do the same again this year and next, and that will fill my grape picking quotient for a lifetime, I'd imagine.

Seriously, it's a cool thing to do, but I wouldn't want to spend a lifetime at it. Anyway, I don't know what the labour laws are like as far as getting a job, but you could try looking around the Mosel/Moselle in Germany/France, anywhere along the Rhein, or of course in the grape regions of France - Burgundy and Champagne leaping immediately to mind.

Don't know what the pay's like, either - probably not great!

You could also look into picking oranges in Spain, or olives in Spain or Italy, but I really don't know a thing about that.

freakypete

From what i know of the Mosel area of Germany, they tend to get cheap labour from eastern Europe, and i dont think the pay is that good. but for a backpacker on a small budget im sure it would help.

Im sure there are backpackers that have done it. no idea where you would find out about it though

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"For once you have tasted Absinthe you will walk the earth with your eyes turned towards the gutter, for there you have been and there you will long to return."

Pete

anthony85

Hey, thanks guys.

I'll definitely check it out, those areas you gave me especially. When you're backpacking, every euro helps...

Somnambulation

HOnestly, it may seem somewhat romantic, but grape picking and vineyard work in general is pretty miserable. We had a couple of rows of grapes when I was a kid and my dad would make me and my brother "work the fields," under the guise of instilling in us the benefits of an education, but in reality because we were a cheap labor force. Never have I hated a job so much as that.

Diorama

^ Well I worked on a Vineyard in Margaret River, Australia and the job was a heaven sent compared to the Banana Shed job I had to work on in Queensland. No comparison. Out of all the fruit work vineyard is the best!

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I have been to: Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, New Zealand , Australia, Fiji, Costa Rica, United States, England, Ireland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland , France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Vatican, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Colombia, Mexico, India, Nepal.

Where to Next? Iceland!