Last night we stayed in the mountain town of Oloron. Today was a very special day spent in the Pyrenees mountains in and around the town of Aramits. Our Oloron hosts told us that in contrast to the large-scale industries we had already seen in Pau, they wanted to show us some small-scale businesses that sustain the regional way of life. First off, we entered the life of a sheep rancher and cheese maker. Early in the morning we drove through the spectacular French countryside, ending up a little dirt road on a working sheep cheese farm.
The owner of the farm Jean Francois Casaux, showed us all the workings of his cheese making operation, which is very grass-roots. He milks all the ewes twice a day, using machines similar to those we use for cows. He then chills and stirs the milk in a large vat, and then once the milk reaches the constistency of yogurt, transfers it into disk molds, and voila! Delicious cheese. We of course sampled his product with the regional white wine inside his historic farmhouse. It seems the Rotarians in this region are expert multi-taskers and M. Casaux is no exception, in addition to his farming obligations he is also president of a local bank!
After the tour Jean Francois whistled to his herding dog, and before we knew it, about 15 ewes were being herded past us! This is the region of the Basque culture, and the farmer used basque commands for his dog, which performed in precise movements. The sheep were herded into a field and then put through a variety of maneuvers.
Monsieur Casaux has won a number of awards for his herding demonstrations at the town competitions, and it was apparent why! We were all in awe at the display, it was fantastic. Click on the video below for your own sampling of this amazing event.
Our next industrial tour was with a trout farmer (Jean-Marc Peillen) in Licq, who also happened to be the mayor of his town (Licq-Atherey). The trout farm (La Truite des Torrents) was nestled in a valley about 15 kilometers from the Spanish border. The trout rearing system was an innovative yet simple sequence of ponds using diverted water from a river which flows down the adjacent mountainside. The water is diverted into two rearing pond systems, one for the hatchlings indoors, and one for older trout outside. The trout are all separated out according to size, often transferred by hand.
The amount of water a fish farmer is allowed to divert from its natural course depends on the size of the farming facilities and the classification of the river. A water rights permit must be purchased for the desired amount of water, but the water must be returned to the river downstream of the facilities. If the river classification does not allow for fish farming activities, an application to change the river classification must be submitted.
It was interesting to see how the whole operation runs on "borrowed" river flow with minimal effects to downstream processes. During the hatching stage of the fish lifecycle, river water goes through a series of filters which remove harmful gasses and leave the correct levels of oxygen to ensure a high survival rate of the juvenile trout. The hatchlings remain indoors for three months before being transferred to their outdoor home. From start to finish, the fish have a survival rate of about 60%, including those lost to predatory birds and other hungry critters.
After the trout farm we went to the La Cathedrale Ste-Marie Oloron which was built in in 1102 during the Romanesque period. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and is on the St. Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage route. We then gave a presentation to a small gathering of the Oloron Rotary club which was fun because everyone there had been showing us Oloron and Licq all day, and it felt like presenting to friends by that time!
The amount of water a fish farmer is allowed to divert from its natural course depends on the size of the farming facilities and the classification of the river. A water rights permit must be purchased for the desired amount of water, but the water must be returned to the river downstream of the facilities. If the river classification does not allow for fish farming activities, an application to change the river classification must be submitted.
It was interesting to see how the whole operation runs on "borrowed" river flow with minimal effects to downstream processes. During the hatching stage of the fish lifecycle, river water goes through a series of filters which remove harmful gasses and leave the correct levels of oxygen to ensure a high survival rate of the juvenile trout. The hatchlings remain indoors for three months before being transferred to their outdoor home. From start to finish, the fish have a survival rate of about 60%, including those lost to predatory birds and other hungry critters.
After the trout farm we went to the La Cathedrale Ste-Marie Oloron which was built in in 1102 during the Romanesque period. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and is on the St. Jacques de Compostelle pilgrimage route. We then gave a presentation to a small gathering of the Oloron Rotary club which was fun because everyone there had been showing us Oloron and Licq all day, and it felt like presenting to friends by that time!
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