Local Tour of Tavaux, France--post 6 of 9

It rained hard last night and the forecast for the day is to have showers throughout the day.  J's uncle, Jo picked us up after our toasted baguette breakfast. We said good bye to J's brother Ju and his partner S. They were driving to visit her family in Brittany before heading to their new home in Normandy. They expected the drive to be five to eight hours depending on the traffic!

J's uncle drove us around the farming area of Tavaux. We saw fields of corn, soy beans and hay. He talked about how some farmers are growing a plant that fabric is made from and I thought he was talking about linen; but, the plant didn't match. It probably took me about 20 minutes to figure out that what he was talking about and what I was seeing was hemp!

While we were seeing the lay of the land on dirt roads wide enough for one vehicle, Jo talked shared stories about the area. We didn't meet any traffic so passing wasn't an issue! On one such dirt road, Jo stopped and parked on top of a bridge. He explained that this little bridge was important back in the day because the Cleu river that flowed under the bridge divided the north from the south. This river wasn't wide. The bridge was small. Actually, the length of the bridge was about the length of the vehicle!

Jo said that in Celtic times there was a lot of fighting between the Heduens (Jura people) and the Sequanes (Burgundy people). In fact, there was so much fighting that one of the tribes asked the Romans for help. Julius Caesar even invaded the area! So the story was that as the fighting would break out and people would say do we want Caesar to come back?? Over the years, lots of antiques such as tools have been found along the river.

Showing the cheese we purchased

We drove to the chemical plant where plastics and chemicals are manufactured. This plant is the major employer in the area. Jo said that at the turn of the century there were over 100 farmers working farms in the area. Now there are three to five. Some of the farmland became homes for those employed at the chemical plant. Some of the original farm homes have been renovated into more modern homes. Jo pointed out that when he was a child, the farmer lived in part of the building and the other part of the building housed the animals and the farm equipment. The big doors of the animal/equipment part of the building often have been preserved in the remodel. As we drove through the older part of town, it was fun to see how the new owner preserved that part of the building.

Jo and his wife S live in a farm home that they renovated. It is also almost next door to his mom's home where he grew up! We dropped in for a short visit and we also saw their daughter's L and A with an appearance by A's eight year old daughter Ao! After a glass of Jura wine, we walked about 10 minutes to J's family home.

For lunch we had left over salad from the party and we had chicken that was supposed to be served at the party; but, it was decided that we had too much food so the chicken was saved for this meal.  In the afternoon, we went to Arbois and walked around the town. We bought Comte cheese at the cooperative cheese factory. Comte cheese resembles gruyere cheese; but, it is even better tasting!

For dinner, we had M's green salad and party leftovers. It was a delicious meal. We played poker in the evening and I think that M ended up with the most chips! Walked 2.2 miles.