Billy Goats Gruff

Hello patient readers,
As usual, I am late posting this update, but why break with tradition now. Over Easter break, I went back to the goat farm to spend my vacation week hanging with the goats, making cheese and helping out around the farm during the spring rush. My friend Brenna came for the first couple days, and her presence (and amazement at certain of the farm rituals) reminded me just how singular a place it is.
(Check a few photos here.)

To describe it would make it sound very hippie and slightly ridiculous, which it may be. The ingredients are all there: herd of organic goats and sheep, shaggy old man who doesn't cut his beard or wear shoes, a trailer parked in a field with its outside painted with a flowery mural, an 900lb pig who grew so large when the family couldn't bring themselves to butcher him, a yurt, any number of people sleeping in, on, under, and around the house. They don't have heating in their house, other than the stove, but this trip I knew that in advance and so I was warm in cozy in my multiple layers and sleeping bag. (Brenna borrowed Angela's German one, called the Schlafsack, which is probably the most awesome thing I have ever heard of.) Either way, I love it there, and it was a perfect vacation.

Each day started with some tea and bread in the kitchen that is the center of the farm universe. Then we would go down and feed and milk the goats. It was pretty hard at first, and very tiring for hands unused to such exercise, but I made much progress as the days went on. If the goats thought you were nervous or didn't know what you were doing, they would jump around and try to kick the bucket and it would be impossible to milk them, so you couldn't hesitate. One of the goats was very naughty and we would fight over who had to milk her.

Then we took the buckets of milk to the fromagerie, where we filtered it, added cultures and some of the previous day's whey, and put it in a small warm room to sit for 24-36 hours. Then we would tend to the other cheeses, turning them, salting the newer ones, removing the newest ones from their molds and putting them on wire grills to dry. The cheeses all start about the size of a half pound burger on their second day of life, then shrink. After about a month, they dry to about the size of two Oreo cookies. You can eat it at any phase, so in the markets here they ask you how you like your cheese when you buy it. When very fresh (a couple days old), it is tangy tasting and barely stays in its shape, sort of like Boursin cheese. Demisec (halfdry, about two weeks later) is my favorite, it has developed a skin distinct from the inside, and a creamy layer right underneath the skin. It is the consistency of a Brie. Then, wait a few more weeks, and you have a hard cheese, very rich tasting. I had no idea it was so easy to make cheese. The conditions must be right, which is the hardest part, in terms of monitoring humidity and temperature, but mostly it is a matter of time. Needless to say, I was in heaven. I ate a lot of goat cheese: the classic after dinner with bread, on pizza, in pasta, and the day after it was made as a goat cheese yogurt. Delicious.

After that part of the day, it is about 9:30 and you have to sort of invent your own tasks to some extent. Every day was different. I did a lot of cleaning around the house and barn, helped make some raspberry jam, and helped their son Béranger. He is a vegetable farmer, which seems to me much more labor intensive than raising animals. He rents his land, so he has to be very productive to make a profit. I helped him dig furrows for asparagus. Thursday and Friday were bread days, so I got to help. Sounds bucolic, to make bread for market, but kneading 40+ pounds of dough for 25 minutes is hard work. Taking the bread out of the ovens is incredibly hot and you have to move fast to keep up, but it was very exciting, and the fresh bread was beyond compare.

In the afternoons, I would often take the goats out to pasture, where they would graze for about three hours eating whatever interested them on the ground. They are sort of like dogs, they will come up to you and nuzzle you with their horns and want to be pet. Sadly, this was not a good year for the herd. They were struck with some mysterious malady that caused 10+ deaths, and over 14 miscarriages this spring. The vets ran many tests, but couldn't find the problem, and Dédé is clearly very upset and worried about his animals. It also is worrying because it means much less milk (and thus cheese, and thus money for the family). Things seemed to be getting better while I was there, and there were two goats who were still pregnant, due to deliver soon. I don't have more news on how they are doing, but I hope those babies were born alive, unlike the rest this year. (So far, only one baby has survived this year.)

So the farm was wonderful, despite some goat health concerns. It was lovely to be in the countryside, and to help make my own food, and to learn much more about farms, French farm vocabulary, and cheesemaking. I am hoping to visit more farms this summer, and I strongly encourage any and all to WOOF whenever possible!

Eurotrip

So my friends and I were talking over tea back when it was cold and grey in Lyon, fantasizing about trips and warm weather, and we were thinking come spring we should rent a car and drive up to see the castles in the Loire valley. And then we (me, Nat, Angela, Brenna, and Paul) actually did it. And it was glorious.

We saw everything of interest on the way there and back and in the general vicinity of the castles: Vichy (where we took the curative, or weird-tasting, waters and experienced a creepily empty town), Orléans (sweet cathedrale, pretty downtown, Joan of Arc everywhere), Tours (fun squares, good resto, another cool cathedral where supposedly Angela's favorite saint is buried), and Bourges (best cathedrale ever, nice park, good pastries). We stayed in a cute hostel at what used to be a school in the town of Beaugency, where the five of us shared a room and bathroom all to ourselves, it was perfect. Despite some occasional nocturnal snores.

And then there were the castles. The first full day, Saturday, we went to Blois (Chateau Royal), then Chambord, then Cheverny. They all had their moments, but my favorite was Chambord, with its amazing double helix double staircases, 440 rooms, and incredible rooftop terraces. Blois was cool because it had lots of different parts, and each had a different architectural history and style. Cheverny was cool because the family of ONE OF OUR FRIENDS USED TO OWN THIS CASTLE. In the craziness that was the French Revolution, they were forced to give it up, and now another family owns it, but still, pretty damn awesome. (ah, les anciens aristos.) Now the family is known for their 80 dog hunting pack, whose daily feeding you can watch at 5pm. Clearly, we did, and it was intense. For those of us who are used to dogs as spoiled suburban pets, these were almost an entirely different animal, but the hounds were beautiful and impeccably trained. And hungry. It was a busy day of chateaux, but some strangely Frenchified TexMex restored us for the next day.

Sunday we went to Chenonceau (see photo), which was my very favorite castle, possibly because I so dearly loved all the kitchen stuff. That and the idea of a castle that spans a river is fantastic. It also had much more extensive grounds and gardens than all the others, including a labyrinth, a 16th century farm, a small wax museum, and a tulip garden. Last but not least, we went to Amboise, where we were surprised to discover the tomb of Leonardo DaVinci (designer of the amazing double helix stairs in Chambord). Apparently he loved France and died here. And somehow the French managed to keep his body. The castle was really interesting, much more what we think of when we think of castle, very high on a hill, huge walls looking down, well fortified, etc. We sat outside for quite a while on the manicured lawn, talking over our crazy tourist weekend, and agreed that road trips are the way to go. (especially when you have someone who is at least 25 to rent the car!)

I am working on the photo thing, but for now, I will just post one.
In other news, we had a great baby shower for Lizzy, who is due in just two weeks! Also, I leave this evening for the goat farm with Brenna, and can't wait to hopefully actually partake in the making of cheese this time, and maybe go to market and everything! Happy Easter to all!

Parent Party!

Hey there all, if anyone still has the patience to check my infrequently updated blog... what can I say, life is busy. So, at the end of March, my parents came to France! It was terribly exciting and our week was full to the brim, but I wanted to at least give the highlights and post some photos, although I left most of the photo documentation to Len.

AWESOME STUFF WE DID/SAW
in Lyon:

• Brasserie Georges restaurant
• Place des Celestins and urban contemporary art tour
  
• Croix-Rousse, the organic and general street market, traboules
• walk down to Hotel de Ville, place des Terraux, fountain, garden and outside of Fine Arts Museum
• dinner with my roomies at my house
• Parent party also at my house, lots of friends came and spoke varying degrees of English with my parents, embarrassing stories were told, much wine was drunk, good times were had by all. (French friend to me: "I can't believe you invited your parents to a party with your friends")
  
• silkweaving workshop (and gift shop!)
• Fourvière, basilica, view, walk down hill through gardens
• Vieux Lyon, a typical bouchon lyonnais
• about a million cafés
• Vélov to Les Halles de Lyon (thanks Paul Bocuse!)
• picnic in the parc de la tête d'or, greenhouse tour, bike around to see elephants, etc
• Brasserie Le Sud (thanks again Paul Bocuse!)
• shopping on Victor Hugo and Rue de la Ré

with rental car:

• Chambéry
• Annécy and its Lake
• lakeside drive, into the mountains and eventually home
• Pérouges, old medieval town
• les Côtes du Rhône
• vineyard tour and degustation of glorious (organically produced, clearly) wines

in Paris:

• musée Rodin
• île Saint Louis
• île de la Cité, Notre Dame
• walk around the Marais
• Petit Nicholas exhibit at Hotel de Ville
• Panthéon
  
• Le Timbre restaurant, rive gauche
• crêperie
• beaucoup de flânerie
  
• musée de la photographie (um, awesome.)
• probably lots of other stuff I can't even remember

In conclusion, a glorious trip in which we tried to see everything possible, and I have to admit, I was exhausted by the end, so I hope my rents weren't too run into the ground. It is lots of fun showing off my city and home away from home, and I can't wait to have more visitors soon...