This morning we walked to Carina and Bernard, friends of Peter and Julie. They are from Austria. They hated so much the oppressive culture and government of their country that they very much wanted to leave. To raise money for the move, they thought of everything, including playing at 'Who wants to be a millionaire'. So they trained for the game very seriously, and ended up being very good at it. They passed the initial interviews, and were tried for the game. But it turned out, that they were not able to press the buttons fast enough. So they didn't get to play the game. In the end, they managed to move by selling their house in Austria.
We got to their farm by passing through the fields and the woods behind the house. There were traces of an old path, lined with oak trees and stone walls. Julie said that anciently the path was used by kids to walk to school.
After not long, we arrived to the hamlet where stands the farm of Carina and Bernard. It is a house with blue shutters, and a new wooden hangar. Another house lies next to it, in which lives an old man - and this is actually the old man I wrote about earlier, who needs help to put his socks on every morning, and Bernard is the guy who helps him.
After a little while of the dog barking, came out a handsome blue-eyed black haired young looking man. This is Bernard. He is in his forties and he looks young, but one can see from his hands how much he has worked.
Bernard shows us the farm - the gorgeous big hangar which roof he has redone with thick beams; the cows, the calf which was born two days ago, the garden. The calves will be sold for their meat. Bernard complains that in France butchers will not buy them if their meat is not absolutely white - which one achieves by keeping the calves in the dark and preventing them from eating hay. So Bernard lets the calves get out from the cowshed in the evening, and then they can spring all around.
Then Claire and Chris bought cheese from them, and Bernard talked with them about the trip that they are starting. He and Carina also did this before settling on this place. He told Chris and Claire, "Oh, it will be interesting, you will see". Chris asked him why they chose the Creuse in the end. Bernard answered, "because this region is the most beautiful", and when Chris asked why, Bernard replied without thinking, "Oh, because of the hedges. You will see."
Hedges are a topic which comes back often. This region is special in that industrial farming did not reach it, I guess because the soil is not very rich, and because of the hills. So the hedges which traditionally separated small pieces of land, less than one hectare each, have been kept. Peter explained to me how they were traditionally made, by splitting the tree trunks and waving the split trunk parts horizontally and digging them into the ground, so that the crossing and intertwined branches would become completely impenetrable by the animals. In the winter, the hedges are trimmed down, but in the summer they become wildly growing bushes, where all sorts of plants and animals can live. The hedges bring a flavor of wild into the farming landscape, visual and environmental richness to the ecosystem. I guess, they are also good to prevent erosion (especially in this hilly region?).
Some people still know how to make them and go about the world offering their services, said Peter. But today very few people know this skill and few are willing to pay for it, and I would guess that few are even aware of the worth of hedges.
Since no modern fence can beat the hedges in impenetrability, one must instead use electric wires. But electric wired fences break down easily, and are not naturally self-maintained, nor do they provide the richness of habitat that hedges do.
Then we said goodbye and left.
