On the way we stopped to see the salt mining, done by two young families. The area had been abandonned and they took on the job of restarting this small business that could give jobs to 2 families.
This is the entrance to the area where the salt is "captured." The little cottage in the picture is the store where some of the salt is sold.
The salt water comes in from the sea through this series of sinuous canals.
Finally, we arrive closer to the cottage and can see the way the way the small pools have been set up where the large granules of salt will sink and the "fleur du sel," or the smaller particles of salt will float on the top of each pool and be harvested with a different "tool."
Below is the wooden tool used for the "gros sel" or large granules that sink to the bottom of each small pool.
The "harvest" of the large granules is kept under a sheet of heavy black plastic and put into bags with a shovel.
Below is a picture of their small shop where some of the salt is sold.
Most of the "bio" (organic) growers of honey, vegetables, meat, cheese, salt, have posters advertising various other eco-friendly areas.
Below is the website for their own business.
Here is a pile of gros sel that is mixed with too much earth to be used for human consumption. It is used to feed to animals instead of the classic solid "salt licks" that I remember from my youth.
And below, you have a table covered with "la fleur" du sel, or the tiny grains that accumulate on top of each pool. Many homes have both kinds of salt, the smaller grains used on the table (unrefined) and the larger ones in cooking. No Mortons salt for these folks!
In the next picture are the "louches" (laddles) used to skim off the fleur du sel. Odette knows more about the technique than I do as she helped in its harvest. Our conversation strayed to other things as we talked with one of the men who does the harvesting.
Here you can see that the salt is still humid. When it is sunny and good drying weather, the tables are uncovered and exposed to the sun. Then, when the rain comes, they are covered. I found myself wondering how many times the rain catches up with them and the drying process must then begin again. A question I forgot to ask.
It reminds me of our "crop" of New England snow.
Odette took me down the hill a bit to the canal where the salt comes in from the sea. Here we found another "crop" that grows here - I think the name is "salicorn," but I must check on this. They taste like pickles.
Not very good harvesting weather (there had been some rain - good for David's beets and cabbages, but not particularly helpful when you need to harvest the salt). Some of the little piles of salt actually were washed away the weather was so bad. In the next picture you can see the foam that has collected along one edge.
Biking is popular in the area and the land is pretty flat. I don't think I would have made it beyond Bretignolles by bike, but Odette has biked the whole western coast of France with her husband. Of course, she is my daughter's age. I should have found out about Wwoofing much sooner and spent all my summers working somewhere in France or some Spanish-speaking country. Not too late to look at continuing my Wwoofing experiences for a few more years!
Here's a good view of Bretignolles from the salines.
And here are the small hills of the fleur du sel.
Even without the sun, if one turns toward where the sun should be, it produces enough glare to make one's brow furrowed if one has forgotten to wear a cap.
By now you know my interest in dry toilets. The two families are adding on a room to the store - a WC with a dry toilet (used with sawdust). It's an old cabinet with a seat added and a place provided to the left to store the sawdust which one can get free from a saw mill.
And here is the other owner of the salt business. At the time we were talking about the organic movement, especially about Fukuyama in the 1950s. I wondered why I didn't know his name. When I returned to David's I told him about our conversation and he went upstairs and brought down the book in French. I (unfished - add)
As I turned to leave, I couldn't help taking another picture of Bretignolles from a distance.
When we finally reached home, Odette did some packing and a bit later David told us he was having a wine and cheese tasting for a group of retirees (hikers) who had walked from Sables d'Olonne (or was it just from Bretignolles)? In any case, Odette and I got busy helping David get ready for this even which might bring him some new customers. We took the table from the combined dining room/living room plus the one usually kept outside (for eating when it is good weather). Odette hurriedly tacked on some pretty paper with the aid of the proverbial scotch tape and then we cut bagettes and covered each "slice" with a chunk of fresh cheese and well as the "affine" (aged cheese).
The group arrived before we were finished so we continued to ready the plates of bread and cheese. You can see some under the blue "mouche" (fly) cover as the flies are some of David's best "customers."
David tells them a bit about cheese making and then people ask questions.
After devouring the samples of both wine and cheese, there is a long line to buy some to take home. I can't remember asking David how much cheese he sold, but I imagine it is a good way of increasing sales.
Here is the wine grower who brought over some wine. He apparently sells it direct at his winery though unfortunately, I didn't get to see his vineyard.
And here, after everyone is gone, while Odette finishes her packing, I try out the hammock that no one else has had time for. It looks like the eyes are closing.
Poor David has no time to rest as he must pick up Odette's "Wwoofing replacement." Of course there are not any "replacement" Wwoofers. Each Wwoofer is different and brings different life skills and personality to the "job." David usually takes only people who are very interested in changing professions or are already in the cheese business and wish to learn new techniques. At this writing I have not heard from Barbara (below) who joined us from Puerto Rico for three weeks. One of the first places Odette and I took her when she arrived at the farm was to see Paquerette in her new "home." By this time, piggy had become quite acclimated to her new "pen." You can tell that Barbara likes Paquerette as much as Odette and I do!
Here Odette gives Paquerette some old pieces of bread soaked in goats' milk.
Odette is conscious of having to leave tomorrow but now she happily shares one of her favorite "pets" with the new arrival. What a beautiful smile! Even the sun doesn't furrow her brow as she revels in presenting big piggy to a new friend!
Then we take Barbara to meet the goats, of course the little ones first. I will have to say goodbye in two days so I have mixed emotions as I remember the day I arrived and the little ones took a couple of bites out of my Mexican straw hat (I'm still hoping to embroider some flowers over the small holes). I know I will miss the family of humans and animals have become home for such a short time, but that seems almost like forever in many ways.
And later in the evening, just before sunset, we take Barbara down to the sea. Odette loves the sea and she and Baraba go way down the beach into the water together speaking Italian together, a language they both know from childhood but one I haven't yet acquired.
And Odette's last day at the farm is ending.
Tune in for two more blogs at the farm.
