Our friend Summer, the Loire Valley Concierge [link], was very keen to introduce us to Juliette Mallet, who has created La Cabane à Plantes [link] at Sennevières, near Loches. Summer had taken clients there earlier in the year and totally fallen in love with the place. Juliette was hosting a Christmas market with some local artists, paysan/nes* and artisans, so that seemed like the perfect opportunity to meet up at the beautiful Tourangelle farm that Juliette works from.
Summer being let into the drying shed by a small child who is a friend of the family and was enthusiastically if erratically giving us a guided tour. The child was wearing a dinosaur parka and announced proudly that they were an archaeologist. When quizzed about what they had found in their digs it seemed that a horse shoe was the star find.
Inside the drying shed, paper bags full of dried herbs.
Chillies being dried in the shed.
Juliette's workshop.
Inside Juliette's workshop.
The back lawn and garden behind the farm house.
A rustic addition to a barn.
The back of the farm house.
A local seed producer, based at Saint Flovier.
Farm outbuildings. The low building and pens on the right would have been for pigs I assume.
The main farm house and one of the big old barns. The farm buildings are arranged in a U shape and there is a pond behind me. It's a very traditional and practical layout.
*paysan/ne translates literally as 'peasant', but it is not a perjorative term. Being a paysan/ne is an honorable profession, someone who knows intimately and cares for the land they farm.
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