After leaving Switzerland at 11 p.m. on 27th towards France, we arrive in Reims, France by 4 in the morning. We stayed at a hotel and slept till 11 am to have breakfast at the hotel. We were of course a tad late but still sneaked some food in. The highlight for me was seeing individual Nutella packets. I hoarded about 20 of them. ☺

We were off to Le Mans to meet up with Pierre, a past trainee on our farm, and visit the France National Holstein Show. On our way out we took a detour in Reims and ended up seeing a few sites including a Norte Dame Cathedral, gorgeous old buildings and roads, and a token French lady driving a bike with fresh flowers and a baguette in her front basket. I found it to be humorous. My dad thought it was one of his old girlfriends.

After the three-hour drive to Le Mans, we were in the hunt for the cow show. Problem being, we had no clue where the show was. To add to it, Le Mans is quite the large metropolis and we do not speak French.

Loren and Laura got lucky again with their lack of planning and just so happen to drive by an information map on the side of the road. Nothing seems to give us a clue until we took a leap and drove to the far south of town where the “Exposition Centre” was. Sounded like a great lead to me.

We were carefully listening to Monique, the French name my parents gave to our GPS , and arrived at a roundabout. Monique said to leave the roundabout on the 6th exit. The 6th exit?! Are you kidding me? My mom began to panic and my dad laughed at how humorous Monique seemed to be. We drove by this huge parking lot, pulled in to turn around, and happen to see a “BouMatic” sign. Clue number two! We drove a tad further and saw a plethora of black and white Holsteins with men wearing black pants, white shirts, and red bow ties. Jackpot! Of course the French leadsmen would wear something like that!

Looks a tad bit like the World Dairy Expo tents but much smaller and with terrible ventilation. I have no clue why they didn't open all the sides. It was 85 degrees!

We got out and my dad immediately ran to the barns to visit with the farmers. Too bad they don’t speak English and are not fond of Americans asking in a loud and slow voice, “Doooo youuuu speeeeak Ennnglisssssh?” He finally found someone to speak with and then asks, “Do you know Pierre?” Ha! Of course he does dad, there are a million of them in France!  My father is quite embarrassing and a hoot at the same time.

We went on to find that Pierre just left the ring and is now picturing his cow. As we are strolling along I observed their milking location at the show. It consists of an outdoor tent, unorganized line, and people smoking everywhere. Oh well, to each their own I guess. As I took a picture of this strange view, I noticed a familiar face in the far right corner.

The French milk parlor. At this show, exhibitors only have to pay $10 to show there if they donate their milk to the local creamery. With this deal, farmers are also provided a free meal and drink whenever they want. The food thing entices me. . .

It was Pierre! I look up and he is nearly five feet away and quickly gave him a hug. He looks at us like ghosts and said “I wasn’t sure if you would make it, I know you guys don’t like to plan too much!” He was, however, very happy to see us and also happy that his cow was 2nd in the aged cow class. Lana, he admitted that she wasn’t as good as Delicacy.

Pierre sporting the Raylore hat.

Pierre's cow.

We then walked in to see the final celebration for the Grand Champion of the show. People were cheering and clapping with party music in the background! They even have their own DJ! As a side note, they do not bleep out swear words here. Even at public events with young children. I was a tad taken back by this. Anyways, this celebration was just grand! A 10-piece band strolled in after the DJ and the whole place was served a glass of wine to toast to the Champion.

Elizabeth – “I move that the wine portion should be implemented in the states immediately.”

Megan Herberg – “ I second that motion.” She really didn’t say that but I assumed she would ☺.

MOTION PASSES.

Pouring wine for the massive toast to the champion.

After looking at bull stud companies at the trade show, I enjoyed a Nutella crepe. I love that stuff. We were on our way to Angers (pronounced Anzay) for dinner and said goodbye to Pierre. He sent us to stay with his family in Corze, a small town 10 minutes from Angers.

Semex was the main AI Stud represented.

For dinner we ate steak! I had been missing the taste of corn fed beef for weeks and ended up eating my rib eye in 2 minutes flat. Luke and Kelly would have been cracking jokes at me for weeks if they saw how fast I ate my steak. It was just what my stomach ordered. Accompanying it was a ratatouille like vegetable dish and a sinfully delicious chocolate cake. Hello French food!

That evening we stayed at Pierre’s family’s guesthouse. It was stunning!

The site we saw as we drove up to Pierre's farm.