My Summer of Grape Picking in France: A Case Study

As Jack Menzies went straight from school to university, he sometimes felt a bit left out when his student friends would talk about their gap year adventures.

He decided to spend a summer working in Europe to gain a few of the life adventures that his friends had and broaden his mind before he graduated and started looking for full time employment.

Wanting an Adventure

Jack told us, “After I left school, I couldn’t afford to take a gap year and I was keen to get started at university. To be honest, I was worried that if I didn’t go straight to university I would end up not going at all. Although I loved university, most of my new mates had spent time abroad and had loads of stories of meeting random people, living out of a tent or some crazy tale! I wanted my own, but I didn’t want to drop out of university or wait till I graduated, so I started looking at possible options for my summer after my first year.”

Jack started by speaking to the careers advisor at the university, who put him in touch with a few online organisations that arrange summer jobs for students.

Jack continued, “I decided to spend my summer in France and I wanted to do something outdoors – so I would come back to uni looking fit and tanned! Grape picking sounded perfect – long hours but all outdoors, so I thought I’d get pretty fit. It started in the last week of August, so I spent July working for a camp site, cleaning the tents ready for new guests. This really helped my French and I had a few adventures before the grape picking even started!”

Three Weeks of Hard Work

Jack found a grape picking job in one of the key wine growing areas, near Dijon. It was really tough work – eight hours a day, seven days a week. Grape pickers need to be over eighteen and in good health, although many find themselves far fitter at the end of the season!

Jack explained, “We were paid €50 a day and all board and lodging was paid for – the food was basic but there was plenty of it, which is what you really need after a long day in the vines. I didn’t really need to spend much because most the evenings the grape pickers had dinner and lots of wine, all provided by the farm. We slept in dorms in a converted barn as part of the farm, which got really hot as there was no air conditioning. I met so many different people and learnt so much that I am really pleased I did it!”

Insurance Etc.

The insurance was provided by the farm, as is legally required, but Jack needed to arrange his own travel insurance, journeys from home at the beginning and end of the season and any ‘fun money’ for days out. Jack said, “There wasn’t any time off during the season so I would recommend any one else to take some time to travel round before the grape picking harvest starts as by the time it finished, 20 days later, I needed to go straight back to uni. But my tan was great!”