Monday, June 18, 2018

Le Sainans, Doubs, France

Hello,

Back in St. Maurice, we are finally have reliable wifi service again.  We were at a lovely B-and-B farm near Dung, France, called Le Sainans.  Prices were really reasonable.  Typically, windows and doors lack screens, so, since this was a working farm, complete with cattle, flies abounded. I am truly adept at reducing their population. 

We approach the farm on a long paved lane that is basically built for a single vehicle and is not acknowledged by the GPS.  The houses and two barns are nestled in a valley which had a good stream of water for giving power to its former mill.





One of the house+barn structures, typical of the region, has been renovated. The four of us stayed here in two of the five guest rooms. There is also a restaurant inside, where we ate breakfast.



There were two holding ponds for the former mill.  These ponds are now heavily populated with frogs.  The chorus of croaks was something to enjoy.  We noticed that this month's special menu's entré (first item) offered 18 frog legs.  On the second photo, the village of Dung is in the distance.




The farm had perhaps 80 free-range chickens which had the run of a nice large area.  Sadly, no eggs were on offer for breakfasts, but we had lots of comté and morbier cheese, both coming from the Montbéliarde cows, the breed which the Grabers bred when mixing their Swiss cattle with local French low lands cattle.





On our last evening, there were outdoor games organized by Evolution 2. One activity was a relay race with battery-powered non-pedal bikes. The event ended with a pig roast and some loud music.







This is a view through the building still used as a barn, where bales had been set up to form a theatre for showing videos, probably for an earlier event, maybe a wedding.


What is missing from these photos is the large millstone which was on display in the lobby near our rooms. (Alas, it's on another phone.) This millstone is of interest to my (Janice's) relatives, two branches of the Aeschlimans and the Stuckeys. I will do another blog with the details for those of you who want to pursue the genealogical details!

Here is the website for the farm:
http://www.le-sainans.fr/

Janice



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