Les Mouches

Grenoble, La Mure, Les Rives; Ferme de la Salamandre

Friday 17 June—Thursday 23 June

In Jean-Paul Sartre’s theatrical rendition of a Greek myth, Les Mouches, the condemned town Argos is punished for the sins of its adulterous queen (Clytemnestra) and treacherous king (Egithe) with endless swarms of flies. I now understand why Sartre chose flies as the eternal punishment of a corrupt and decaying kingdom. There are few mosquitoes at la Ferme de la Salamandre, but good god, there are certainly flies.

Some explanation is in order. Over a year ago, overcome by the winter blues in slushy Athens and determined to return to France, I invested all possible avenues that would make a return trip feasible and somewhat cost-efficient. Although I eventually found work as an au pair for the de Lannoy family in Montfavet (near Avignon), in my expansive search I discovered something called WWOOF (World Wide Opportunities for Organic Farmers). It is an international network of organic farms and farmers that welcome volunteers from all over the world. In exchange for a few hours of work a day, WWOOFers are fed and lodged and have the opportunity to participate in the hosts’ family and farm life. Since I didn’t get a chance to WWOOF last summer, I decided to investigate the system and get some pesticide-free soil under my fingernails before heading to Nice for my TEFL program. And as such I found the Gilles family and la Ferme de la Salamandre, deep in the rustic heart of the French Alps and on the periphery of the magnificent Trièves region and the Vercors mountains. It is stunning, even with the flies.

For two weeks (until the beginning of July, when I will go back up to Paris to meet my brother at the airport), my living situation is as such:
• I live in a caravan, complete with a double bed and candles (but no light or sink or electric plugs).
• My neighbors are very nice stoners (Joséphine and Daniel) that live in a yurt lined with bookshelves and decorated with creeping vines, tapestries, and hanging mobiles made out of driftwood, buttons, and pebbles.
• We have what is called une toilette sèche—a dry toilet. The toilet is situated on a platform built above a deep pit filled with sawdust. Toilet paper is disposed of and burned in a bin.
• Instead of an indoor shower, we have une douche solaire—a solar shower. We fill black solar-heated bags with water and then lay them out in the sun while we work in the fields in the morning. Believe it or not, by the end of the afternoon, they water is rather tolerably warm. The shower has a breathtaking view of le mont aiguille (google it—it is the most recognizable symbol of Trièves), and it is all-in-all rather agreeable. Shaving is completely other story. Thus far, my most efficient method of shaving involves standing in a basin in the yard and making a fool of myself. I might end this adventure with rather hairy legs, but I don’t think anyone here minds much.

Today is rainy, so we didn’t work in les champs, but an average day goes something like this:
• Work starts at 8:00am, and so we gather in the kitchen for tea and bread before heading out into the fields. Our work consists mostly of le désherbage (weeding). All of the hours and days spent weeding throughout my youth in Ohio certainly paid off, eh? Thus far, we have finished a field and a half of onions and a field and a half of carrots. If we’re lucky, the work varies a bit—the other day we spent a few hours picking des cassis (black current berries) and I’ve been promised a day in the bakery next week.
• Lunch is around noon, and all of the workers (including WWOOFers, family members, interns, employees, etc.) take turns cooking and doing dishes. Our lunches as a group have proved to be a wonderful opportunity for conversation and exchange. Today, we spent the better part of an hour talking about the nuclear disaster in Japan and France’s incongruous reaction, followed by a somewhat in depth discussion on the philosophy of art and its role in politics and society. Tuesday, it was Western neocolonialism in Africa. And it helps that we eat completely organically, and most of the fresh fruit and vegetables are raised here on the farm. Food miles = >1km. Our meal generally consist of some sort of grain or starch (rice, pasta, bulgur wheat, couscous, potatoes) with a fresh green salad (oftentimes with beets, carrots, radishes, and/or other vegetables from the farm), or sometimes homemade pizza or quiche.
• The afternoons are free. Usually, we spend them reading, writing, washing clothes, feeding the cats, taking hikes in the area, going on excursions to lakes, heading to La Mure or Mens for book-shopping or garage-saling or picnicking (if we find a car), etc. Our afternoon hikes have been a wonderful way to explore the nearby towns and mountains. Over the weekend, I walked up to St. Jean d’Hérans, a tiny village of about ~150 inhabitants just on the border of Trièves. This afternoon, Emilie and I hiked up a nearby ridge to an arboretum with a beautiful view of the Drac river below and La Mure across the ravine. We got somewhat lost, but our detour was hardly fruitless. We found a great spot for picnicking on top of the ravine with a magnificent view of the surrounding peaks, and we ended up in St. Sebastian, a charming little village about 10km from the farm. Yesterday, I had the chance to spend my afternoon with Stéph delivering vegetables, cheese, bread, and eggs to various organic grocery stores and AMAPs (food co-ops) in the Grenoble area. I was entirely impressed by the network of organic stores and their loyal customers.
• In the evenings, the WWOOFers take care of our own dinners (usually leftovers + salad) and then head to bed when the sun starts to set. There are some advantages of not having electricity—an early bedtime is certainly one of them when work starts at 8:00am.

Currently, the farm “family” includes:
• Benoit (the father), Stéphanie (the mother), Alice (15), and Nel (9). Benoit and Stéph moved to the Alps ~9 years ago, and they were fortunate enough to come into possession of the farm ~6 years ago. Before, they did a variety of things. Benoit studied fine art and Stéph was a guidance counselor at a junior high school. They also briefly lived in Guadeloupe and attempted to set up a commune of sorts. Let it suffice to say that they are a splendid, quirky, friendly family.
• Sylvie, Justine, and Sophie are all interns/employees of the farm. Sylvie and Justine often accompany the WWOOFers into the fields, and Sophie is responsible for the bakery, along with Stéph.
• Jo and Dani (the aforementioned inhabitants of the yurt).
• Three dogs: Bigs, Pioche, and Bodet; five(ish) cats/kittens: Fleur, Feu, and the baby-daddy of the two kittens (who are as of yet unnamed). There were originally four kittens, but two died of a brain disease. The two remaining are steadily recovering. When I arrived, the kittens still took milk only out of a bottle, but they have made continual progress over the week. Their eyes are no longer stuck shut with mucus and grime, one of the kittens is learning to chew, and they can both lap milk out of a spoon or bowl quite well now. Progress!
And of course, the WWOOFers:
• Adeline is a twenty-something speech therapist from Grenoble. She is busiest with her work during the academic year, so she is spending her summer WWOOFing and volunteering at a nearby commune (Emilie and I actually stumbled upon said commune while walking towards St. Sebastian today . . . quelle coincidence!) Her chocolate mousse and her homemade chantilly (whipped cream) are phenomenal.
• Brian (25) is taking a trip around Europe after two and a half years in Senegal, where he was volunteering with the Peace Corps. He studied architecture at the University of Virginia, and when he returns to the United States, he will go on to get his master’s in public politics at NYU.
• Emilie (21) was raised in Chicago but has been studying at the American University in Paris for the last three years. She finished her undergrad degree in international law in three years, and she will be moving to Holland to pursue her graduate degree in European Union law with a specialization in agricultural law. She is WWOOFing for two months this summer to get a hands-on experience on a farm. She is an avid hiker, prides herself on being quite a wine connoisseur, and speaks with an impeccable Parisian accent.

Bref, I have been thus far pleasantly surprised by my life her on la Ferme de la Salamandre. I can hardly complain about the flies (or the lizards in the shower, for that matter). Life is slower here, quieter. It gives me time to think. Exist. Sit down in the grass. Breathe.

More to come. I have a week left on the farm and a month’s worth of places I’d love to visit before I leave.

(P.S. You’ll excuse me for my extended silence, all. As you can imagine, there is no wireless connection here. The closest internet is about an hour and fifteen minute walk. It’s not for lack of love that I’ve been so absent from the interwebs, it’s for lack of wifi and motivation to carry