France Pt. 2 -- Goat Milking and Sheep Chasing

The main focus of our trip to France was to experience working on an organic farm through the WWOOF program (Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms). After searching the French farms directory and contacting multiple farmers, we were happy to confirm our stay with Françoise DuGaray and her family in Duriane, just outside of le Puy-en-Velay in the Haute Loire département.

  Françoise is an organic sheep farmer with an heritage breed of sheep called Brizet.  In addition to her flock of approximately 140 sheep and lambs, she runs a bed and breakfast in her family's 15th century château.  

  The home has been in her family for generations, and she and her husband have undertaken the difficult task of renovating and preserving the château, its many outbuildings and surrounding land.  This involves a huge amount of work--so we were happy to help out for two weeks with the animals, vegetable garden, and guest rooms!

On a typical day, we woke up around 7:30 for our first task: milking Nanny Goat! This was my favorite job...

  We then fed Nanny's milk to the seven orphan lambs.  They were so cute and friendly!  (After the orphans were sold, we learned how to use the milk to begin the cheese-making process). 

  Next, we gave food and water to the other lambs, the ram, and the ewes.  

  In the morning we would also spend some time weeding in the garden or cleaning the B&B rooms.

We often had time to relax or explore the town in the afternoon, then repeated the animal chores in the evening.  In addition to the sheep and Nanny Goat, we also got to know the family's two dogs (Belle and Daisy) and the cat (Pénélope).

 
We had a few adventures with the sheep... One sheep, which Françoise had lent to a family in town to  eat the weeds in their lawn, escaped and was wrecking havoc in people's gardens! We finally found the sheep and managed to catch it with the help of a friendly neighbor. On another occasion, We were trying to catch some ewes and I had one backed into a corner. It took a huge leap straight towards me and knocked me to the ground, where we wrestled until I managed to catch it by one leg!

   
Our sleeping quarters were in an outbuilding that was cleverly converted into a kind of cabin, with a cozy sleeping loft.

Overall, we could not have asked for a better WWOOFing experience! Françoise, her husband and four children were all so friendly, patient, and welcoming. We felt like a true part of the family, cooking and eating together, meeting their friends, etc.  I got to practice my French a lot, which was great! And we came to enjoy the slower pace of life there... Dinners often lasted two hours, with great conversation; a visit to a friend's house was never short, nor was it without a glass of wine or a cup of coffee.  Françoise has a special gift for welcoming people into her home and her heart...

In my next post I will talk about our visits in and around le Puy-en-Velay, as well as the visit from Jonathan's parents!