In the Country

Like most things in life....it depends. Common courtesy goes a long way. Stop in, say hello, ask, reflect, react accordingly. You may get a curt "no". You may get the chance to churn butter or rake hay.I think that some of life's best adventures start out as silly ideas. Go for it!

You can stay at a farmhouse and get to see these things up close. I don't know about France, but it's common to find farmhouse accomodations in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. We stayed at one in Austria a few years ago and had fresh milk, eggs, and yogurt for breakfast every morning.

That brings up the question..if you were driving in say Wisconsin and saw a dairy farm, would you stop,interrupt their work, and ask to get a tour of the place if there was no sign saying they welcomed visitors?

The best thing to do is stop at a local tourist office and ask which places are receptive to visitors.

There are plenty of places that offer tours or let the public view cheesemaking/etc, or you could stay on a b and b/inn on a farm. In the Dordogne, for example, there are tons of goose farms that let you watch them feed the geese that will soon be foie gras--it's a popular tourist activity! But I'd no more just pop by a farm in France than I would in the US (haha, can you imagine a foreign tourist dropping in on a Colorado cattle rancher?). Between internet research or asking the tourist info center, you should be able to find something. And you do find info in guidebooks--I was just in Switzerland and Rick listed the mountain dairy farms that allow tourists to drop by to watch milking, cheesemaking, etc (this is probably something you're more likely to find in Rick's book than in Fodor's).

Frank II is dead on, as usual. Sometimes we mistake Europe for Disneyland and forget that the people we see aren't there for our entertainment. I'm sure Rick doesn't drop in without advance arrangements. That said, there are more and more opportunities for rural tourist adventures, with some farms running B and B operations and many with tasting rooms and shops catering to tourists. Because such enterprises come and go, I wouldn't expect to see them in guidebooks. But the local tourist information centers will have up to date information, and a growing number are even online.

Oh, and do brush up on the local language if you want to have the best experience in this regard. One of my treasured memories is stopping at a wine tasting room in the Loire valley and chatting with the proprietor about grape growing and major weather calamities they had survived over the years. It helped to have OK conversational French, but it would have been a lot better if my French or their English had been more fluent. One thing I did learn--it is a miracle we ever get any wine at all, given all the things that can go wrong, weather-wise!

I do not know about USA, but when we return to Canada we have to declare whetehr we have visited a farm within, think 14 days, or if we intend to visit a farm within the next 14 days. I may be wrong about the time frame and I do not know the consequences of saying you have or intend to, but it might be worth investigating before you venture onto a foreign farm. The reason - to prevent transmission of diseases.

There are signs on the road for the farm cheeses, wines, liquers,jams, cookies(and pottery,etc) particularly near Sarlat, Perigord, the Loire valley- just as you might see roadside booths for Olathe corn in Colorado,tasting rooms for vinyards in Napa,or warme kuchen in Germany ( mmmm!)The tourist offices know, and your innkeeper might as well. Enjoy the drive!