Farmless and ready for adventure

With a week off between farms, I took a train from Morlaix to Rennes, where I met my couch surfing host, Clément. We then got in his car to drive to Vannes and I quickly realised that orientation was not one of Clément's strengths. After driving in the same circle a few times, we made it out of Rennes and were on our way.

Clément was an adorably awkward host. If you can picture a computer scientist with the social skills of Sheldon, metal-head long hair and a gorgeous smile - that's Clément. He even took time off work to show me around, which he didn't have to do. We went to the cinema to see Big Eyes (Christoph Waltz is amazing), we walked around in the rain, we strolled around the harbour. Conversation was limited at times, due to: a) language misunderstandings; b) my intellectual capacity to keep up with computer formulas; or c) we both wanted to change the conversation but couldn't decide on what.

I ventured off for a day out on my own and took a ferry across to the Île d'Arz. I know I've said it before, I love being near the coast! Île d'Arz is a small island in the Gulf of Morbihan and only a few kilometres long. Sea breeze, sand between my toes and sunshine. Ahhh :)

 

Me being me, got talking to a lady on the ferry over who also happened to be a teacher. She was on her way over to the island to supervise a state English exam for some of the school kids. The school has 18 students ranging from primary through to secondary school. What a cute school.

The island was an adorable get-away.

The first time my feet had seen daylight since November!

The first real signs of Spring! Yay!

Vannes was beautiful. I'd love to see it again without as much rain one day. Nevertheless, it was a great place to say "see you later" to the coast again.

My next stop was Rennes. I carpooled for the first time in France - I finially trusted my French enough to get through the trip! In Rennes I met up with my couch surfing host, Yahel. I can honestly say that I haven't laughed as much as I did with Yahel in a long time!

We literally sang our way through the streets of Rennes - the rain had unfortunately followed me though. We belted out the most ridiculous ballads in her flat (mostly Whitney Houston), I cooked so we didn't starve and got out for a few runs along the canal.

The historic inner city of Rennes takes you back to medieval times and then 300m further you can find the most elaborate modern shopping malls - an odd mix. I wandered around a lot while Yahel was studying, happily getting lost and discovering new parks, shops and fountains.

Singing in the rain with Yahel after our karaoke night out.

  

Yahel said this was a Rennes must-have: galette saucisse. Essentially a gourmet sausage sizzle, except the sausage is wrapped in a buckwheat crêpe. The queue for these at the market was unbelievable!

The (incredibly fat) cat took over my stuff. She wasn't happy unless she was in my suitcase or asleep on my laptop.

I forgot to mention when I wrote about my stay with Luc and Nicole in January that there was a little incident where Nicole's parent's dog tried to bite me. My jacket came out a little worse for wear. Well, in Rennes, Yahel introduced me to the best sewing/knick-knacks/craft store (I'm so glad there weren't many like this in Stuttgart). Anyway, after duct tape having (sorta) done the job for a few months, I found a patch!

  

After four nights in Rennes, I said "see you later" to Brittany and got on a train to Paris. One of the annoying things about travelling in France is that you almost always have to travel via Paris - it's even cheaper to go completely out of your way to make Paris a stop-over. So I changed trains and set off for Alsace.

Within a week I'd travelled from the far west coast to the eastern border and it's so different here - actually, the closer I got to Belfort, the more you could tell how close to Germany we were getting.

My start in Belfort was so weird. And it was all my fault.

You know I usually love talking to strangers. Well this guy, Diallo, started talking to me on the train. Within five minutes he said he'd love if I was his girlfriend because then his English would improve so much (What the...?!) He changed seats to talk to me and then I slept - there was nothing I could say to keep him from rambling. Eventually, he wrote his number down with the note 'Sarah, please don't forget me. Diallo'. (Head shake.)

In my panic to escape the ever-persistent Diallo (a name which means 'bold' - bold he was), forgot to check the messages I'd received from my couch surfing host Elise. So there's me, waiting for Elise's call because I didn't realise that I also had her number. I needed to get away from the station fast and had stupidly assumed I'd been stood up by my host, so I walked to the nearest budget hotel - which wasn't budget at all. The receptionist was really helpful and let me use the wifi where I then found Elise's message with her number, called her and then she came to meet me.

I was in such a fluster that I wasn't thinking straight. That hasn't happened to me travelling for such a long time. Anyway Elise was a breath of fresh air, so down to Earth. We enjoyed beer, wine, a delicious meal and great conversation with lots of laughs. The next morning she took me on a walking tour through Belfort and up to the town fort.

A week well spent with three COMPLETELY different Frenchies.

Degemer mad e Breizh!

"Welcome to Brittany! Bienvenue en Bretagne!" At least I think that's what my internet-translation-of-a-title says. I fell in love with Brittany: the Celtic charm of Ireland, French food and wine and at the coast to boot. What a mix!

My Breton adventure mostly took place in the outskirts of Plougasnou at La Ferme de Trézenvy.

Life at Ferme de Trézenvy was by far the most uncomplicated stop I've had so far - and that's saying something considering the family dry toilet was in my room behind a curtain! Charlotte, Briac and their four-year-old, Orancie were so easy to be around. We predominantly spoke French, but occasionally they'd have no idea what I was trying to say and we'd switch to English for a few minutes.

I met so many interesting people there. At Charlotte's birthday party, at concerts, in the garden and friends who would regularly stop by. In my second week another WWOOFer, Ronan, also joined the farm. Everyone I spoke to had such a fascinating story and world view which led to riveting conversations (of which I probably only understood 60%!) For example, Ronan is a talented journalist and musician, check out his band La Botanique.

La Ferme de Trézenvy consists of three parts: Briac's vegetable farm; a cultural association called Le LIEU (Laboratory of Utopian Imaginations and Experimentation) which is Charlotte's baby; and (another) Charlotte's ceramics studio. 

Briac isn't a fan of machinery and ploughs the fields with the help of Raphaëlle, his horse.

Briac showing Ronan the ropes.

I loved vegetable farming. Ok, apart from is often killing your knees and back at times, working in the greenhouse tunnels was a time of meditation for me. I learned a lot about preparing and planting seeds, re-planting seedlings, about different forms of compost and how to prepare the soil for healthy plants and how to care for a range of different vegetables. It was great to see how quickly the different plants grew over the time I was there. Visible progress.

 

Planting new seeds.

There were several perfomances held at the farm during my stay, including an African Blues artist, Chaek, a Spanish contemporary dancer, Carolina Fernandez and even a movie night where we watched Beetlejuice. Click here to see some of the performances that have been held there.

All of these events were held in one of the two yurts that are set up on the property: one as a guest house, the other the stage. I had never heard of a yurt before and now I can completely see myself living in one one day. (Apologies that I don't have any pics of inside - trust me, it's more impressive than the outside.) See here.

The farm was just a few kilometres from the coast and that made for an ideal jogging route. Unfortunately it was still a little too cold to go swimming. Can't complain with a track like this though...

St Patrick's Day was quiet this year, but didn't go unnoticed. I made shepherd's pie and homemade Baileys. Sorry... no pics, I was busy in the kitchen.

On March 20 there was a lunar eclipse. We tried our very best to get a good look, but the Breton weather wouldn't have it. We even held hands and chanted to summon the weather gods - but we scared Orancie, so we stopped.

Believe or not, 24 hours later we had a dream day out at the beach to see the low 'tide of the century'. The next time the tide will be out that low will apparently be in March 2033. Once the tide started coming in again, we had to walk fast!

Charlotte is a fellow lover of sewing and I made use of her machine while I could. I am proud to say that I finished off several projects which had been haunting me for some time! Beating procrastination one project at a time.

Ronan and I dabbled in a little landscape gardening in the front yard. I wish I had taken before and after photos. The trees in the middle were surrounded by a small, ugly concrete wall, which we removed. Then we re-shaped the garden. Here's an 'after' photo, which doesn't entirely do Ronan's dry stone wall justice! The garden is far from finished, the next WWOOFers have their work cut out for them.

My time at La Ferme de Trézenvy went out with a BANG at the Morlaix short film festival Court mais Bref with the theme 'Made in Japan'. What a bizarre and hilarious mix! Charlotte and her neighbour Maud had entered in the competition and it's not every day you get to watch with the competitors. Maud and I had a great last night out, enjoying the Celtic charm and buzz Morlaix' bars had to offer.

Next stop: Vannes. I couldn't get enough of the coast.

Here we goat again!

Before leaving Normandy, there was something I had to do: re-visit my Norman family and the goats!

I had forgotten how chilly the mornings there could be though. Icy tractor shadows: what a difference a little sunshine can make.

My timing was intended to coincide with the arrival of this year's kids and, no joke, I arrived to see triplets being born as I entered the stable. Within a week over 20 kids entered the world and it became difficult to walk through the herd without almost tripping over an over-excited little one.

Unfortunately, the circle of life being what it is, with life came death. Not all of the births were easy and sometimes Lucile or the vet needed to intervene. Needless to say, it was nonetheless a beautiful experience to witness such an abundance of new life.

Cuddles with little Lily. Too cute.

Of course being around the baby kids everyday meant I, too, began to smell of stale milk because so much had been spilt in their excitement to be fed.
 
It was great to be back with Lucile, Nicolas and the kids. Étienne and Hélène couldn't get over how much my French had improved. I loved seeing how things had changed at the farm and learning of the new renovation plans they had in store.

On the first weekend in March, I went back to Stuttgart for Jutta's 30th. Staying with Lucile and Nicolas, and then of course with Jutta was fantastic (Jutta bought my bed off me - I actually slept in 'my' bed!). While travelling may be incredible and the experiences are often unforgettable, it's so important to feel comfortable and 'at home' somewhere.

I've made a shocking discovery... there's no direct translation in French for 'home'. There's your house and the place you feel you can be yourself or comfortable but no home. By the end of my time in France, I'm determined to invent a word (or learn of a translation, if one already exists).

So La Ferme d'Esmeralda was my first and last taste of Normandy. Let the Breton coastal adventures begin!

La Ferme d'Escures

La Ferme d'Escures: a complete change of pace. The first farm where I didn't speak a word of English. Just a little German :)

On the outskirts of the small village of Saint-Jean-Le-Blanc, La Ferme d'Escures is an educational farm on a fascinating property. The owner and farmer, Véro, made me feel so welcome despite our conversation being limited to my French alone.

There are three main buildings: the main house, which includes a youth hostel, a house available to rent and Véro's home; the stable/boutique; and a large functions hall. There's a camp ground, hedgemaze and access to the forest which leads to a small lake, river and discovery trail. Then, of course, there are the animals: 3 pigs, 8 rabbits, 4 goats, lots of sheep, 6 ponies, a horse, a mule and two donkeys, and the birds (chickens, turkeys and ducks - as said, not my favourites).

Here's the map...

The view from my bedroom window...

An average day at La Ferme d'Escures consisted of feeding the animals and giving each fresh water and afterwards mucking out the stable. Surprisingly, it was a relaxing start to each day - lots of work, but the animals were always appreciative! Afterwards the activities varied, sometimes working with visiting groups, sometimes in the garden or maintaining the property.

School groups visited the farm often and Véro shared her vast knowledge of animals and plants with the kids. We arranged games in the hedgemaze and gave tours of the farm. I even gave tours in French!!

One boy: "Haha! Why do you talk like that?"
Me: "Because I am from Australia and I'm learning French."
The boy: "Oh. Ok." (Boy walks away.)

The rest of the kids loved helping me and correcting my French, we played games and they told me lots of stories (which I didn't always understand). 

In the small group of seven houses which make up d'Escures of Saint-Jean-Le-Blanc, there are five organic farms! The boutique on Véro's farm is open one afternoon per week and she sells the basics the neighbours may need. The baker, François, delivers the bread to the boutique which the neighbours have pre-ordered.

One of the seven houses, the Château to be precise, is home to two German volunteers every year doing their civil-service year. Heni and Caro are this year's volunteers and were great company to have so close by. One night a week they give a German course for the neighbours who are interested - I helped out and improved my French while the others improved their German.
Heni and Caro work at several farms in the area. One morning, I went with Caro to help feed the newborn lambs. Sooo cute!!

 
Véro and I went on a trip to Granville. I just LOVE being at the coast, even if it's windy and freezing.

It was pretty chilly inside the house...

But getting outside was well worth it, if the sun was out.

Véro has been looking for a partner/partners to help run the farm for the last few years, it's just too much to run by herself. We were a great team and had to 'get our McGyver on' a few times: to fix broken watermains until the plumber could arrive (bike tyre and a cable-tie) and keep an eye on the unreliable heating unit. Quite honestly, if my French was fluent and I found myself back there in a few years' time, I could imagine staying there and joining the endless projects the farm has to offer.

For the moment, that's not the case, so I shared some of my ideas and after two weeks of helping out, I said "see you later".