Back in the French swing of things.

Going back to Germany meant getting back into German and within three weeks I managed to forget almost all of the French vocabulary I'd gained!

I returned to Luc and Nicole's house and they were shocked to find me speaking so much English! I could not, for the life of me, think of the most basic words which I had used just weeks earlier. Nevertheless, as I said, they're patient. I gradually got back into the swing of things and picked up my French again with regular trips to the cinema and lots of conversation.

As I hadn't found any WWOOFing positions for January or February yet, Luc and Nicole kindly welcomed me back. Despite that breaking their no-WWOOFers-over-Winter rule.

However, there was even less work that needed to be done (hence the rule), so when the necessary jobs had been completed, being all the firewood was prepared, the animals had been attended to and the bottles had been labelled, it was time to get creative.

It was Winter and pretty damn cold. I spent a lot of time in front of the fire and knitted and sewed quite a bit.

 

 My Nanna-face. Alright, my normal face.

 It didn't snow a lot, the weather was more cold, humid and windy. On a clear afternoon, I ventured out for fresh air. The farm was beautiful in the clearing snow.

Luc and Nicole renovated this old farm house into a gîte (guest house), such a gorgeous get-away.

The cellar door. Almost always open.

The original main house, where Nicole's lovely parents live. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of Luc and Nicole's place - which is a pity considering the work they put into renovating the barn into a cosy two storey home.

The view from my bedroom window.

As there weren't many jobs on offer at La Ferme du Bout du Chemin and I didn't want to get in Luc and Nicole's way more than I already was, I went to the local organic bakery 'Les Copains' and asked if I could help out there for a few days. I guess they said yes because they knew I couldn't eat anything in the bakery!

Alors... photos of the bakery are to come. Definitely worth the wait.

For now, here is my first attempt at homemade sourdough. It was fantastic!

Again, this all happened in French! I kneaded and baked bread while speaking French, I even went to the market in Caen and helped out... in French.

Luc invited me to join his running group a few times which helped me work off all of bread and chocolate I'd been eating. In front of the fire. With a cuppa.

Whenever the sun came out was cause for celebration. Sunday trip to the beach: you can't go wrong there.

I wasn't far from the coast. I was surrounded by fun and interesting people. But being an Australian in Europe (far away) in January (too cold for a BBQ) who can't eat wheat (no Vegemite or Milo anymore!), doesn't easily equal my ideal Australia Day. My attempt: orange and poppyseed cake... yum!! It helped.

An apple a day keeps the doctor away.

When I said that posts in the past were long overdue, it was an understatement compared to the mass of posts that are to make up for the last three and half months!

So, let's go back in time. To early December 2014.
Admittedly, my start with Luc and Nicole was a hesitant one after having been back home but I was quickly made to feel extremely welcome at La Ferme du Bout du Chemin.

After returning from AUS, I spent a few days at Lucile and Nicolas' place to compose myself and gather my things then moved on to the next step of my WWOOFing adventure. Lucile drove me over here and we all ate lunch together: that was my first taster of what the French-deep-end felt like!

With Luc and Nicole, I primarily spoke French. They're so patient, which is extremely necessary for me, no matter how quickly my French seems to be coming along!

We spent 9 days together before I headed back to my German family in Stuttgart for Christmas. In the short time I stayed with them in December, my French improved so much, I surprised myself.

There's not as much work to do on a cidre farm over Winter as there is in Summer. Nicole kept apologising for not really having any 'fun' jobs but I found each step of the cidre process interesting, even if it consisted of cleaning thousands of cidre and champagne bottle by hand so that they were ready to be re-filled.

First we soaked the labels of and scrubbed the bottles clean...

The hot water we soaked the bottles in boiled in a big cauldron over a wood fire in the veggie garden.

Afterwards we covered the crates with newspaper to keep the bottles clean.

A few days later, it was time for the fun to begin. Jobs like this remind me of why child labour during the Industrial Revolution was such a problem. Using the four taps you can see in the photo below, we filled thousands of bottles in just one morning. The production line consisted on bottling, corking and wiring the bottles shut. Then they were ready to be stored in the cellar.

Nicole manning two stations, corking and wiring.

Beneath the apple trees, Luc and Nicole keep meat cows. I loved helping with feeding the cows. They're fascinating to watch.

Another adorable animal addition to the house and farm is Éole, Luc and Nicole's lovable dog. She's a Leonberger and absolutely massive - but don't tell her that because she doesn't seem to realise!

So Christmas crept up on us and after 9 days of being spoilt with tea and cakes by the fire, family film nights, delicious meals (both French and Spanish) and, of course, tasting the specialties of the farm - cidre, apple juice, Calvados and Pommeau (a liqueur mix of cidre and Calvados) - it was time for me to head to Stuttgart.

I was sent on my way with a Traditional Norman meal of creamy chicken and mushrooms, and even with a little Christmas present: a French poem (which, I must admit, I'm still now trying to understand entirely!). Nicole is a brilliant cook and was so sweet to always make sure my wheat-free options were available. As you can imagine, I learned so much about what you can do with apples!

The nearby town of Cambremer was particularly festive. It's not a very big place but it's a village straight out of a fairytale with boutique shops and beautiful knick-knacks. It's so small in fact that even I began to bump into people I knew.

And off to Stuttgart I went, having no idea how hard it would be to speak German properly again!

At least sharing the specialties of the farm went down well, whether I could get out a straight sentence or not. Christmas eve with the Müllers and Jaurausens...

 

In the truest sense of the phrase.

"See you later, not goodbye."

This post is long overdue, as my blog has stayed quite stagnant since mid-December. In early December, I said "see you later" to Lucile, Nicolas and the kids. After what became three months' stay, we developed a friendship that went beyond WWOOFing. In the end, I didn't find it as a hard a goodbye as I had thought, because I know I'll see them again very soon.

I was truly spoilt on my last night with home made crème brûlée!

This is no longer the view from my bedroom window...

You can imagine how much procrastination I had to overcome to turn this...

Back into this...

 
I have the feeling that I've said "see you later" a lot over the past few years without ever really knowing whether it's true. In mid-November, I received a phone call from my mum, informing me that my Nanna had passed away. Never having had the chance to say "goodbye", I can only hope that means that we'll see each other again some day.

After a day's deliberation, I flew back home - thanks to the help of three beautiful people who helped make the spontaneous trip a reality. Of course I regret the reason for travelling home, but as soon as I had made the decision to go back, I couldn't get there quickly enough!

It was fantastic to be back. To catch up with family and friends and to spend 'every day' moments with my family, which I miss so much. There's so much infomation lost, despite our regular phone calls - I loved being a part of the rat-race again. On top of that, I sincerely appreciate how lucky I am to have been able to be with my family in this time of mourning.

Nanna was an incredible woman, therefore there was plenty of laughter to lighten our days, reminiscing on times past. Alzheimer's is an awful disease, yet it has taught me to cherish the memories I have.

Here are some pictures from my time back home...

And our last picture with Nanna and the whole family, Christmas 2013...

Rest in peace, Nanna, we all love and miss you. xx

Saving the best till last.

I said I'd get to it and here I am. Le fromage!

This is where the magic happens. It's hard to believe that this 'white gold' starts with these adorable, horned creatures. Obviously, if I'm going to explain the cheese process, I have to begin with the goats.

The kids above are three of sixteen kids, I had the pleasure of meeting while on the farm. Nicolas tells me that my sudden love of kittens is nothing compared to what I will feel when I see newborn kids for the first time... I'll be back in February with my fingers crossed for baby cuddles!

Working with kids is like working with kids. They play like children and have a cry just like children, which sends shivers down your spine. Below, you can see Lucile and I (trying) catching the kids one at a time to weigh them to check whether they're growing healthily. (Alright, I admit I'm not doing much here.)

So the goats are milked (not the kids, of course), as I've told in other posts, and depending on which stage of the year it is, there's either more or less milk. Over Winter there's no milk, the goats are (hopefully) all expecting and the cute little kids will arrive early next year.

 

The milk is then lugged up the hill to the fromagerie (cheese lab). Now that is where the magic happens, actually. Here's the picture-process, without giving away too many trade secrets. ;)

The entrance.

 The milk is re-filtered.

It is then poured into a large bowl, where it's mixed with bacteria and rennet (an enzyme produced in goats' stomachs). After 24 hours, the milk separates into two parts: whey protein (the liquid you can see below) and what is left underneath is cheese!

The moulds are prepared and the cheese is scooped into them with a ladle.

The moulds are left to drain on the table and constantly flipped. When the whey has drained out, you're left with delicious cheese.

There are endless possibilities of how the cheese can be prepared. It's simply a matter of time and herbs.

 

Finally, the cheese is sold. The process from milk to fresh cheese takes 3-4 days and, even after having seen it for myself, I'm amazed at it's simplicity.

Special thanks go to Victoria for the brilliant photos of hers which I used here. By the time I got around to taking pictures, the farm was muddy, the skies were grey and there was very little cheese left to photograph! Just as predicted, Vic, you took the sun with you!

And, of course, Lucile. Without whom I wouldn't have made such incredible discoveries.