Day 16: Salt Marshes and Cheese Factory

Today was Friday, and yes, we had a field trip that made it that much better! We met up at ESA around 7:45, which was miserable since everyone was up late the night before. We climbed on the bus and headed out to a cheese factory about an hour outside of town. The factory looked very nice on the outside, not like a small "mom and pop" type operation that we had been seeing in the days before. We walked into what seemed like a mini movie thwarted with a projector and rows of seating. We began our tour with a ten minute movie (in French) translated for us that discussed the beginnings, operations, and products of the cheese factory. Basically, what makes the cheese factory unique is that the factory buys milk daily from local producers and begins the cheese production almost immediately with no preservation or pasteurization of the milk. There are eight different kinds of cheeses that the factory makes from this milk alongside butter and yogurt. We walked upstairs to a unique, flat, room that was encased by windows. Looking down through the various windows, one could see different production rooms where the products were being made. It was quite a site! After this, we headed to the other side of the room where a large table was set up with various samples of their cheese products and glasses of wine. The cheese tasted amazing! However, there was one cheese that smelt like B.O. I wasn't going to let the smell of the cheese stop me from trying a piece because I'm here to experience and taste new things. So I tried it. I'll never try it again. It was horrible, disgusting, and it left my hands smelling filthy. But I tried it and that's all that counts! After this, we headed out to the city of Gerund (I know I didn't spell that correctly); a walled city along the bay in Brittany that is known for it's salt production. We walked throughout the city, which looked similar to Saint Malo, and then headed out to the marshes where we visited a salt cooperative and learned all about salt production. It was quite interesting to see it all done by hand and see each individual have their own salt marsh. There's approximately 300 individuals that own salt marshes in the area and about 200 of those belong to the cooperative. I bought some "Fleur de Sel" or "salt flour" which is the best crop from the salt. It was quite a tiring day, but it was so much fun!