La Cressonnière: Neighbors

This is a photo looking out our back window. Free range chickens! Roosters too. During breakfast, we hear the roosters making their morning hellos. Which I find very charming.

free range chickens france

Our next door neighbor runs a Petite Farm. She brought us some fresh eggs the other day and they were delicious. I’m not sure if my neighbor sells her eggs, but I hope so. I’d love to buy eggs from right next door. Wouldn’t that be lovely?

She raises cows too, but I think they might be for beef, not milk. I’ll have to ask. The cows are pretty and white. At least two of the calves are still nursing.

white cows in francewhite calf nursing cow

Baby June likes to stand at the window and watch the animals. We are working on our bawk bawks and our moo moos. I need to find out what French cows and chickens say. Do you know?

baby at window

59 thoughts on “La Cressonnière: Neighbors”

    1. see, and I would have gone with “le moo”….

      Sorry, in a silly mood today. These pictures are wonderful. I am envious of you and your family while simultaneously being thrilled you get to experience this!

      So much fun!

  1. My kids would love to live next to a farm. My daughter is 18 months old and very into farm animals at the moment. Next week-end we are taking the kids to the Salon d’Agriculture at the Porte de Versailles, basically a show case of prize winning French farm animals and fare. For you and your little ones, I recommend this book, “Le livre des Bruits” (The books of Sounds) by Soledad Bravi. I learned many French animal noises and more from this book along with my children. For instance: the duck goes “coin, coin” not quak, chickens go “côt, côt”, sirens go “pinponpinpon”, shhh is “chût” and we say “aïe ouille” not ouch. The drawing are adorable as well.

  2. The chicken here is sooooooo tender too! Fresh eggs are the best ;-) you know you don’t have to refrigerate them? It’s just an American thing that we do…but not needed. It does keep longer in the Fridge but we go thru eggs here fast (and I’m sure with a family as large as your you do too!).

  3. A book your children might like, in very easy French, is called ‘Poulette Crevette’, about a chick who doesn’t want to say cot cot like the others!
    I’m so pleased to have found your blog, being another expat (Irish) in France. Wishing you many happy adventures!
    Stephanie

  4. Not sure about the other animals, but I distinctly remember my High School French book saying a fish says “gloo gloo.”

    Consequently, all my childrend have learned to be French fish! : )

  5. I wonder, is the milk usually consumed cold or room temp? I have friends from Romania who had a hard time getting used to refrigerated milk…Farm fresh anything is fabulous…I am a sucker for garden veggies and fruit (they remind me of my gramma)

  6. i grew up with a french (from frahhnce) stepmother, and she taught all of us french from babyhood and we were lucky enough to have a bilingual school, too. the animal sounds were my favorite. crows say croa and ducks go coin-coin. horses go hiiii (much more horse-like, right?) birds go pit-pit, cats go miaou, chickens go piou-piou, and cows go meuh! you should get a copy of ‘cher zoo’ if you haven’t, and to reinforce the french, my absolute favorite books to read were the shoe books in french (ballet shoes, dancing shoes, etc). my brothers preferred tin tin and babar, but tintin is kind of un-pc these days. there’s a beautiful version of i took the moon for a walk in french, and all the courte echelle books for the older kids. also easy fun things, like kids’ cookbooks in french for baking treats. if you haven’t seen avez vous de ja vu on youtube, you should watch it too… the giraffe avec un colier is truly priceless.

  7. I have to admit, though I knew what you meant when asking what French animals say, a part of me wanted to respond, “the same as American animals!”

  8. Love waking up to the call of roosters—-brings back precious memories!
    Even more lovely is seeing the cows and chickens from the back view of
    your new home in France! Makes me want to seize the day!

  9. I love living vicariously through your blog and Jordan’s. Oh to be in France… I always thought I’d choose Paris over the countryside. Now I’m not so sure. I have a two year old and he would be over the moon to see farm animals every day. Thanks for your updates!

  10. I love that you’re the type of person to appreciate the different nuances of different regions/cultures. Not too long ago you were in NYC, now the countryside. Not too many people know how to take in the glory called life.

  11. Oh, how I would love to have some backyard chickens! But between living on the open space in Colorado (hello, coyotes!) and our 80lb lab, I don’t think that is in our near future. Thanks for giving me one more way to live vicariously through you and your family! :)

  12. Hens say cot cot cot and cows say meuh, meuh!
    Reminds me an evening when I was an exchange student way back then in California, and all the exchange students from all over the world started doing the noises from animals and everyday gestures to say hello, or I don’t care and things like that. On of the funniest evening of my life!!

  13. I’m not sure where I found it, but when I was working with kindergarten children I found a site that had native speakers saying the sounds animals made in different languages. I don’t know if French was in there, or if it still exists. I just thought I would mention it. I’ve always been fascinated with the sounds we use in different cultures.

  14. So funny that all countries have their own sounds for farm animals. The Dutch say that:
    Cows go “Boo” instead of “Moo”
    Dogs go “Waf” instead of “Woof”
    I think it’s always a kick to find out the differences.
    Another perk to living in the French countryside – fresh eggs!
    Enjoy!!

  15. Thank you so much for allowing us to tag along on this fabulous adventure!

    I love the picture of that cute little baby hand at the window. My kids always ask me why I took so many pictures of their hands and feet when they were little…I just love those tiny fingers and toes.

    All the best!

  16. Bri (like the cheese)

    This post really makes me miss my chickens! I loved having backyard eggs for breakfast nearly every day. And the rooster’s crow was charming…most mornings. :) A former coworker took the birds for us when we had to move, so now she gets to enjoy Samwise & Eloise (Sam & Ella, for short!)

  17. I am so loving the posts about the market, the pain au chocolat (my favorite pastry) and the fresh eggs from right next door. The cows are beautiful but the BEST is the picture of baby June’s hand. How can words describe the emotions a mother feels when she sees that pudgy little hand with dimpled knuckles? Even though a picture can’t do it justice, your’s comes pretty close! My mother just captured my son’s hand holding on to his uncle’s dog tags and a cross. You can see it in this post if you’d like. http://www.mistyhamel.com/1/post/2011/02/good-times.html
    What a precious memory!

  18. oh oh love!! What could be better than looking out your back window at little french chickens and cows! Thanks for letting me be a part of this with you. :)

  19. it’s funny how animals say different things in different countries. i always liked that spanish chickens go ‘pio pio’. it kinda’ reminds me of an episode of ‘arrested development’ which each family member has a different chicken sound and movement to tease michael about being a chicken. it is hilarious!

  20. How is it that animals make a different noise in different places? I honestly thought you were joking when you asked what noises they make in french. Aren’t they just biologically made to make a certain noise? Are the differences just our interpretation of their noise, or do they actually sound different?

    You should be able to tell pretty easy if they’re milk cows or not. Milk cows have HUGE udders and when it gets close to milking time (usually twice a day) anyone who has ever nursed a baby feels exceeding sorry for them. They look miserable. From the bit of the mother I can see in the pic, I’d say beef cows. And the calf standing in the one picture is a steer (or bull if he’s not fixed, but they usually are at least in the states) you can tell by the “fuzzy belly button.”

  21. That wee hand, those dimples winking back. I mist up thinking about the gift you and Ben Blair are giving each of your children by having the combination of daring, ambition and organization to make this all happen!

  22. Until I had children I never knew that animals make different sounds in different languages! It is such fun to think about!!

  23. hi! i hope you are receiving plenty of care packages from the U.S. – is it weird i think you’re homesick? that’s weird/sad to just ASSUME. if i were in a beautiful country like France with all it’s fresh food and general amazingness i’d miss the Chicago skyline (can you tell where i’m from?) and fried chicken and pizza – not gonna lie.

    anywho… hope you’re doing well. i’m loving this adventure of yours!

  24. …and even, when feeling fancy, the rooster/cock (coq) will go : Cocorico!!!
    (world often referred to when mocking our (somewhat overdeveloped?) ego)

  25. I just love that every bit of your life in France (so far) has been exactly what I would wistfully imagine life in France to be like. Beautiful country home, perusing the French market, eating croissants fresh from the bakery, and a neighbor that brought over delicious farm fresh eggs…I am continuing to love your France posts more and more every day!

  26. these photos are stunning. What a treat to live next to a farm, I’d say that’s even better than having your own;) I see great opportunities for children to learn some good old fashioned hard work! How fun!

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