Another fantastic day in France. After eating SO much food yesterday (approx 4 x what I should consume I would think), I started the day with a very nice jog. Then we headed out to our hosts farm, Michel Pivard. He is running a dairy farm, as well as a green waste recycling plant, and also has a large solar electricity grid generating power he sends back to the grid.

The green waste recycling is a fantastic idea and a great setup. He is paid to receive all of the local towns green waste, and through mulching and mixing with the slurry waste from his dairy he is able to make great compost he uses on his farm, and sells to some customers. So it is the perfect compliment to the dairy operation, and allows him to get rid of his slurry without too much cost.

He put many solar panels on his roof, and through locking in a 20 yr contract a few years ago, is going to generate good income from the power he will put back in the grid in a few years.

 The dairy operation of I think 150 cows, is very neat! The robotic milker was great to watch. As the cows just wander into the milking pen whenever they feel like they need to be milked, and through electronic rays, the milking suckers (wording?) find the teets, and milk her without any human intervention. We were able to watch close up as the cow came in, had her udder thoroughly washed, then she was milked a released. All by a robot! 

Michel and his wife Dominique served us another delicious lunch, then the crew went off to watch alocal rugby lunch, whilst I went with another scholar from France, for some bush walks in the area. Cristine is a pig farmer from south France, and we went for a few different bush walks through some fantastic forest areas. We also visited a historic site where ice used to be carved from a lake and stored in a huge shed, before being taken by train to Paris, Algeria and other places. This was in the 1850’s before they had a means to make their own ice! Pretty cool!

Now we are back at the hotel and have a lovely quite night ahead of us!

The compost turn over machine

Michel explaining the composting process

Cristina on one of our walking trails. I was very lucky to find my own personal guide!!

Very nice waterfalls, with deep holes where the water has been passing through for years!

The historic shed, where slabs of ice were stored in the 1850's, before being railed out to Cities.

walked around this lake, the trees are all starting to turn yellow/red, adding to the beauty!