Milk a Parisian farm cow?

I'm sure the City of Paris is planting trees and other plants that are either native to the area or chosen to withstand the evolving climate, as is the policy in all cities in France, including my own. You may want to inquire via the Paris city government. After all, the city of Paris has a full-time beekeeper tending the hives on the roofs of public buildings, so there could be a native-plant specialist.

As for the cows, when my husband was growing up in the 1950s the last dairy near him closed. This was just outside the city limits. The poor cows were inside so much due to city expansion, that the dear things couldn't see anymore. Inquire near Giverny, which is in Normandy.

With bird flu threatening cattle farms all over the world, a farmer would be crazy to let tourists anywhere near the herd. Track a little duck manure in on your shoes and kill his livelihood.

Janet has made a good point about the chances of getting anywhere near a dairy farm now.

You will also be asked whether you were on a farm when you re-enter the United States. Has she milked a cow at home in the U.S.?

While it is no longer necessary to speak French in order to be treated well as a tourist, I would expect a horticulture volunteer to need to speak French, and to have a vocabulary that I don't have.

Absolutely no insult to YOU meant, but: My own experience has been that volunteers are so unreliable that I don't need to book people from another country to have many of them cancel at the last minute! Just talking about the idea of signing up ...

Have you done some experimental train bookings? I would think it takes a full day to train to Paris. I wonder if you could fly home conveniently from Zurich, Basel, or Stuttgart? But it sounds like Paris is a must-do.

Contrary to popular belief, many farmers are happy to welcome visitors who are looking for authenticity and want to spend a day or two on the farm. It brings them additional income in a currently difficult economic context.

But obviously it's not just about having fun for a few minutes milking a cow.

Here are some websites:

https://ohlavache.org/

https://www.bienvenue-a-la-ferme.com/recherche?categories[]=discoverFun

https://www.accueil-paysan.com/fr/chercher-un-accueil/preparer-mon-sejour/

pfagenp,
Tim's comments about returning to the US are apt. The US Agriculture Dept. has strict rules for good reasons. I would check the USDA website to see if you can find out anything about that, as well as the Customs Dept. The same caution exists between states regarding produce (Ariz. and Calif. e.g.) No one wants to bring in anything that would hurt the citrus crops in those states. It is better to be forewarned. In 2023 on returning from France we were asked about any time we might have spent in agricultural settings. Just be prepared.

To expand on returning home after visiting a farm, you may be detained and sent for a secondary inspection where your shoes and clothes may be cleaned/sterilized before you move on. This may take a few minutes or an hour depending on how busy they are. Make sure you leave time for that if you have a connection. It is illegal not to declare that you visited a farm.

I must admit I've never seen dairy cows wandering around Paris, but they're plentiful in the countryside of Normandie and Bretagne. Here's a website from Normandie Tourisme that may be helpful.

Hi friends,

Merci for all of your replies-fast and wide spectrum of replies. Each reply matters.

Have a nice weekend, Paris, here we go!