La Ferme des P’tis Bilounes

Where are you from ? I come from Angers in Maine et Loire. I was just born there and then I lived for 10 years in Champagne Ardennes. Julien is from Leynes. Why this job? What is your background ? I returned to Angers for my studies. I studied in Vendée. I then returned to Champagne Ardennes in an agricultural cooperative where I was responsible for the North-East sector for everything that was brought up to standard and storage development (fertilizers, fuels, water, etc.), I took care of everything. which was a sustainable agriculture specification. And then I left for Italy, I worked in an agro-tourism structure, which would be the equivalent of farm inns in France, where I was a riding instructor. I took care of all the green spaces, welcoming customers, lodgings and a laboratory for processing dehydrating fruits and plants. I had been looking for a farm for 5 years. I researched a lot in the Alps because I love the mountains. After various unsuccessful experiments, we changed the criteria a little and broadened the scope of the research. It turns out that here we still find ourselves with beautiful landscapes, low mountains, meadows, livestock, vineyards. All the criteria are met. At the beginning I started with cheese processing. Then I thought about just making milk. And finally I returned to cheese processing because it's really satisfying to raise my animals, transform the product, sell it and immediately get customer feedback. It gives an outcome to what I do. And in the end I'm really happy to have gone in that direction. Julien joined me on the farm in 2021, he is a permaculturist and microculturist and also a free-range chicken breeder. It therefore produces eggs, vegetables and mushrooms. We also set up an unusual cottage in the middle of nature in 2023. Why here? Cenves happened a bit by chance. I was starting to feel a little down because I couldn't find our farm and I saw an advert in an agricultural newspaper on the internet. A 2-line announcement “Sells agricultural funds in the Rhône”, no further information. In the end, when I called the transferors, the contact went rather well. So I came here to visit the farm in 2017, in the middle of winter, a fog! We couldn't see 2 meters away. Your favorite place on the Grand Site? The view we have at the farm. We have a view of Mont Blanc, the entire Alps chain, the Jura, the Monts du Lyonnais, the Monts du Beaujolais. We have a 360° view, that’s magnificent. We are on the heights of Cenves. The orientation table is a few hundred meters from our house. So breathtaking panorama. Your best memory on the Grand Site? It is a set. These are the thousand facets of the region.