Like picking berries at the Helbert's farm, the harvest of potatoes is one of my favorite things to do on a farm. In this case I had been spared the planting which usually means digging a big trench although some people put them in a shallow row and then heap on the dirt as the crop matures. I had arrived at the right time to be able to reach under the plant, fingers stretching out to locate all the many potatoes - large and small, round and oblong that lie buried deep under the surface of the ground. The experience was heightened as I was accompanied by two other Wwoofers, Odette, a Swiss woman just a few years older than my daughter, and Barbara, a bit younger. Barbara had just arrived from Puerto Rico. She has spent some years in advertizing and has come to France to learn French and check out some of the organic farms before she perhaps starts her own business.
It was difficult for me to leave la Normandeliere, with its perenial see breeze that gives even the hottest summer day a respite from the heat. So now I return to the day I left the Helbert's and started for Bretignolles-sur-mer.
Just after Nicole and Claude left me at Laval station (see Blog - Mayenne), I heard the "patter" of little feet and a huge group of school children came scurrying into the train station. They were off for a three- day school trip to Normandy with their two instructors and a few mothers.
They were very cute but a bit noisy (normal for that age). Fortunately, they had their own "wagon" on the train and I was able to have some quality reading time. The youngsters sat in a group on the floor after we alighted in our change station munching on their lunches. My next train is pictured here (Nantes) on the large board announcing my next leg of the journey.
As I started for the elevator, a woman came up to me and showed me how to "composter" (punch) my ticket. If you do not run your tickets through this little machine, a heavy fine awaits you if you are caught by the conductor (I have subsequently met some other wwoofers who have been fined for this very offense, although one I met talked her way out of it). Of course the conductors don't always check the tickets, but it seems there is little mercy for this ommission. Fortunately, you can composter all tickets you are going to use that day all at once so you don't forget to do it at each station. We rode together to the next place where I had to change trains. She lives in la Rochelle and we exchanged addresses. She invited me to be in touch and perhaps visit her during the time I will be in France.
On the next train, I met this cute little Yorkie who couldn't quite make up her mind whether or not she wanted to sit in my lap. She would come across and then almost immediately go back to her owner.
It was a long trip and I didn't arrive until about 4:00 in the afternoon. Because the family was out in the field planting cabbages, they sent Odette, their Swiss "wwoofeurse" to pick me up at the train station. She had already been there for almost two months learning how to do the milking, make the cheese as well as sell the different cheeses at the weekly market in Sables d'Olone. It turned out we both were teachers. She is a native speaker of Italian and German and also teaches English and French - both of which she speaks fluently. We enjoyed each other's company and spent a lot of our free time together.
When we pulled in at the farm and I saw my "quarters," I wasn't sure I could adapt to such a rustic house, though indeed I was scheduled to later spend three weeks building a house made of straw as well as of course, other materials. This particular cabin had been built by a friend of the family who left before it was finished. After I expressed concern about the little house, David offered to have one of his daughters sleep in it while I took her room. But I said no as I didn't want to disturb anyone. I decided to give it a try. I managed to really enjoy the experience even though I had a few unexpected visitors: one night I had a number of flies buzzing all around me as I pulled up the covers as far as I could. Another night I woke up to sprinkles of rain on my face which I managed to escape by moving far down into the bed. That night I lost electricity as well but I had been given a big flashlight. We had fun joking about the pickle crock that served as my toilet. The latter had not arrived yet when I took this picture.
There are several ways to build a house where straw is used. Here, as you can see, the straw has not been mixed with the stone, sand, and other materials that are used in this kind of construction, but rather has been "stuffed" between the walls. You will see the second type of construction when you eventually read my blogs on my experience in the Pryenees.
Odette and I decided that the next two pictures gave this little "cottage" quite a romantic look in spite of its rustic nature.
Before the family came back in from planting cabbages, I took a lot of pictures. Both of the structures in view are barns. The one to the left has been converted into a house while the one to the right is used both as the cheese making area as well as a section devoted to storing some of the hay for winter feeding.
This is the "front" of the house. The "lawn" is full of tall wild flowers and you can see how dry the earth is. As mentioned in an earlier blog, it has been extremely dry in France this year.
Below is the open kitchen, dining area as well as the living room. I loved the orange lampshade that is still in the works. The women in the family had seen one like it in a catalog and decided to buy a boa and make it themselves - a decision I often make myself. But life on a farm with 100 goats and a cheese making operation doesn't give one much free time to finish these creative projects. You can also see one of David's two guitars that he never has time to play.
I have to say that David and Natalie's kitchen was very well equipped with excellent cookware that made cooking easy. I made a couple of "tortilla espanola" while I was there and nothing stuck to the bottom of the steel frying pan. I have resolved to buy one of those fry pans when I return home in December! They are have TWO ovens and one day we had a leg of goat! What a treat! I haven't had goat in years.
Here is Pacrette who was having some heat rash problems because of the extremely dry weather. Eventually she got moved to a new area. That operation turned out to be quite a traumatic experience for everyone including Pacrette.
And here are some of the stars of the farm!
The next morning I got up early and observed the milking operation but didn't take any pictures. I was asked to feed the small goats (some two years old and other born just this spring) that had been kept to increase the herd (or be "replacements"). After the milking was done (all mechanized) David asked me to drive the tractor so he and his daughter Helline could ride on the back and plant the cabbages. Here is Helline who drove the young cabbages (planted earlier in the spring by the family) down to field for transplanting.
And here is your first look at David who looks terribly serious here with his protection against the noise of the tractor. In the next picture, Helline settles the four crates of cabbages on the back of the tractor. Then the two of them sit on the two seats and reach down to plant the cabbages every so often.
And here I am ready to drive straight (oh yeah?) at the same distance one row from the next so the cabbages can be later be weeded by the tractor. Unfortunately I messed up one row and even ran over some of the cabbages. I have to say David was very patient with me and he later asked me to help him again driving the tractor.
After the planting I took more pictures of the bailed hay behind the barn. To the right is the entrance to the cheese making operation you will see in later pictures.
Later in the evening Odette took me to the beach. The picture below is of the "plan d'eau," a lake sized area with salt water. On days when sailing lessons are not offered one can swim there.
Odette
Me
An announcement for the public meeting to be held about the possible building of a new port that some residents are backing (the majority, it seems). It is a long story and involves lots of politics. So, I'll tell you a bit about it later.
It was a rather gray day as we sat in a small cafe on the edge of town and looked out into the ocean. There is a sandy beach, but it does have a very rocky coast. We had walked from the farm in back of the sand dunes and then went home on the beach.
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