August 24 – September 18, 2013

Alex’s goat farm is about 20 hectares (about 50 acres) of organic pasture and farm buildings. She has about 200 goats, of which about 50 are active milkers. The other residents include a flock of 11 sheep, a horse, 7 cats, a handful of chickens and two dogs, Pateau and Etincelle. It is a hectic place with work to be done seemingly at all times!

We rolled right into the routine. It was easy for us to pick up and by the third day there, we no longer had to ask Alex what we should be doing at every moment. Here’s how a typical day went:

8:00 Breakfast
8:30 – 9:30 Give hay and straw to all the goats

Fresh straw for the billies

9:30 – 10:45 Feed and milk the ladies

The milking machine

11:00 – 12:30 Fromagerie

Inside the Fromagerie

12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 18:30 Ladies in the pasture or maintenance around farm

In the pasture

19:00 – 20:15 Feed and milk ladies

The ladies lined up for milking

20:30 – 21:00 Fromagerie
21:15 Dinner

Our first few days started around 7:30am and ended close to 23:00, but once we got the hang of things we started later and ended earlier. We were always offered time to relax after lunch, but mostly just wanted to be useful. Each night we fell asleep quickly and feeling like we had done a solid day’s work.

August 23, 2013

Distance: 14.5 miles                      Climbing: no data

Our morning started as usual, coffee and breakfast and breaking down camp. We tried to go straight through the park we were in, but ended on a private road and in someone’s backyard. Turning around is normally quite annoying, but we found some blackberry bushes. After a quick snack we made a beeline for the main road.

Chandler and the blackberry patch

We pedaled quickly through Nouans-les-Fontaines and onto the road to find the farm. We passed a few other farms, wondering which one was ours. Finally, we reached a sign advertizing fromage de chèvre and knew we found the right place. There wasn’t anyone around but a few goats on top of a huge hay bale.

Welcoming committee

We found the house and Alex came out to greet us and show us our room. We put our bikes away, changed clothes and immediately got to work. The farm Chandler and I chose was an organic goat cheese farm. Our first afternoon was spent in a flurry of activity which left us exhausted. We passed out that night knowing we had made the right decision.