Comte cheese may not be a household word in the United States, but every Frenchman and woman is intimately familiar with this semi-hard cheese from the Franche-Comté region in Eastern France. Comté holds the coveted PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) status in the European Union, which means that only farms, dairies, and aging cellars located … Read more
View along the old Tanners Canal in Dole, France, with Hotel Dieu at right. The canal is so named because its water was used to produce leather goods in the numerous tanneries that lined its banks during the middle ages. The canal was fed by a natural spring that rose up within the walls of … Read more
At first glance, La Place aux Fleurs in Dole, France, seemed a serene little square bordered by trim limestone block houses. But on closer examination, I decided there was more to the story. On one side of the plaza, three naked bronze figures huddled on a bench. The bronze sculpture was created in 1982 by … Read more
Ask any Frenchman to name his favorite cheeses and Comte will undoubtedly be at the top of his list. To a large degree, however, the rest of the world doesn’t yet know about this delicious, semi-hard, nutty-flavored cheese. I was one of the lucky ones. Several years ago, during one of my many wanders around … Read more
I came face to face with this giant Montbeliarde cow at the fruitère (dairy farm) of Marie Roy in Poligny, France. I was curious why she was the only cow who wore a bell around her neck. Marie explained that certain cows just naturally become leaders of the herd. They lead others between fields or … Read more
