In the Cevennes National Park we visited quite a few sheep farmers. Some were raising sheep for meat while others raise the animals for milk. While driving up to the Cevennes you sort of realize why this land is perfect for grazing animals… it’s incredibly hilly. Getting up to the “Massif Central” area and plateau, proved to be a very winding road.
But once we were there it was quite beautiful, and rather cold and windy. The sheep didn’t seem to mind though. The farms which they roamed were massive and the largest we visited had something like 500 acres of pasture land.
The milking operations were interesting to see as well. It was all very mechanized and safe, just like in the U.S, and all of the milk is sold to cheesemaking companies to make raw milk cheeses.
The group visited a cheesemaking company on the Massif Central plateau and tasted cheese that is illegal in the U.S; I wish I could say that I really loved it, but the taste it really strong, and we all agreed that the taste of the cheese reminds you of the smell of the sheep. But the extremely aged cheeses were delicious- and everything they made was done so with great care, since it is done with raw milk. But that is another issue entirely.
We finished the day by bidding the farmer farewell, as he slowly moved his 200 sheep into their pasture with the help of his faithful dogs and his walking stick.
This is the result of all that grazing… great cheese.
