The stage energy here in France is something completely different. Oh yes, we're still lulled to sleep easily on the bus, but we burst outdoors in eager anticipation at every stop. Seems like everyone is feeling the magic.
We were actually on time for our first stop of the morning, Ferme des Levees, but the farmer asked us to hold off for a bit - feeding was running overtime. So our bus disengorged us at a tiny random village and told us to wander for twenty minutes. Jesse and I had made a quick run to Paul's for the ever-elusive perfect cafe creme, so we were perfectly set to double-fist; coffee in one hand, camera in other. We couldn't have found a more picturesque place.
Ferme des Levees is a pig breeding farm established a decade ago by an energetic couple, Anne and Jacques Volatier. While Anne still works as a civil engineer for the city of Dijon, Jacques was inspired to live the rural life. As he puts it, he had an intuition to work in the country and add to the local economy as a way to protect the way of life he saw rapidly disappearing - a life he wanted his two boys to experience. After research and a year of agricultural certification, he decided on breeding pigs on his 40 hecture organic farm as they were relatively easy to raise.
Yet again, the love that people have for their land and animals was made abundantly clear. These pigs are free range, clearing fields on rotation whose crop cover varies according to what pollen the wind blows in, and wallowing happily in mud. Their organic food is all prepared by hand, supplied by local producers.
After a year, the pigs are slaughtered locally in Beaune at a small slaughterhouse. According to Jacques when asked how he chooses which pigs are ready, "whichever ones get in the cart first!"
But in reality, he takes them over three at a time and allows them to settle in overnight so that they'll be less stressed by the process. It is critically important to him that his "titis", or his little ones, aren't treated in an industrial manner, and not just because a stressed pig during slaughter releases toxins that disease the meat.
The pork comes back cut in half length-wise, and every part is used for their products which are sold direct at the farm and also at the Dijon market on Friday and Saturdays.
Throughout the visit, his two sons happily careened around the property on their bikes, feeding and petting the pigs, clearly living out a young boy's dream of dirt, activity and wide open spaces. Their youngest in particular was quite the character. He seemed perturbed that I could actually speak his language despite the cacophony of English surrounding him, and was set on keeping me from his very friendly cat who followed me around the property. Having a bike tire rammed repeatedly into my leg is not necessarily the way to make friends, but I was clearly receiving a warning!
After touring the farm, we sat down to thick slabs of country bread and a beautiful array of their products: country pâté, ham with mustard seed, pâté en croûte, pastry encrusted marinated meat, jambon persillé, and rillettes. Served with large jugs of local red and water flavoured with their own elderflower syrup, we feasted well yet again. And while every morsel was full of flavour and freshness, I fell in love with their rillettes. If only I could buy a case...
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