I’m in France learning about the production of Comté Cheese when I visit a restored farmhouse dating from 1736 in the Franche-Comté region.
Noël Myotte and his wife decided to open their farmhouse as a museum after they were awarded the best restored farm in 1981. Entering a store selling meats, cheeses, local wine and sweets that once served as the stable, I am invited into the main part of the museum by Noël who is obviously proud to show off the restored farmhouse.
He explains through an interpreter that the first room is actually a massive chimney. Traditionally, the tué was the kitchen and was always situated in the middle of the house. The tué has no window or door leading outdoors but it gave access to all the other rooms, including the stables. The room was heated by logs on the floor.

The oven also gave off heat on days when bread and cakes were baked. At a later date, the rooms occupied by the family were heated by earthenware stoves fueled from the tué with fire embers.
This is also where cooking and heating water took place, washing clothes, and making Comté cheese; each week a master cheese maker traveled from farm to farm with the skill for making the cheese, using the milk from neighboring farms in addition to the farmer’s own supply. The farmer salted the cheese rounds and matured them on wooden racks, taking care to turn them at regular intervals over several months.

I look up and there are dozens of hams hanging from the rafters. This is another time-honored tradition; salting and drying meat to preserve it.
Since the tué was the only heated room in the house. Fir and juniper wood was used on the fire and there was a lot of smoke. This abundant smoke had the effect of giving a special flavor to hams, sausages and other cuts of meat.

The rest of the house is filled with antiques offering visitors a glimpse into a time gone by in rural Franche-Comté. Rooms resemble a dining room and bedroom, and there are two rooms filled with 18th century implements and tools.

Noël welcomes more than 30,000 visitors to his shop and museum every year, from Easter to early November.

As with many attractions in Eastern France, you may need an interpreter. Generally there are English speaking employees at restaurants and hotels. The farmhouse museum and my many other experiences, while learning about Comté cheese, was a fun and educational experience. If you are interested in culinary history; go. You’ll have a wonderful time.
What a nice place to explore. We love spending time learning the local history, much like what you found at the French Farmhouse Museum. It gives visitors a personal look at the lives of the people who tamed the territory.
It is amazing when you think of those who have gone on before us and all they did to survive and make their lives better. The French Farmhouse Museum offers a great history lesson.
I love stumbling upon house “museums” during our travels. Of course, world class, major museums are fun and inspiring also, but the small house museums have a charm all themselves, and also provide a “closer to the ground” granular look at home life in another time.
I agree. I met the owner who showed us around. He was charming and gave me insight into how he and his wife revived the house and its history.
I’m always up for a good house tour, and this farmhouse in France looks to be worth the trip! I am amazed by that image of the hams being smoked in the chimney. Really amazing!
I was amazed at the number of hams too! They smoke them for their neighbors. It was great to look back in time and then to realize they are still doing some things the same way!
These learning experiences are so incredible, aren’t they, Marilyn? Many of my best travel moments have been similar to your experience learning about Comte cheese.
I agree. As writers we have the opportunity to learn so much more than simply seeing the sites!!
Okay, the ham wins out! Loved that photo and could almost smell how wonderful it would have been standing there taking it! What a great idea for a great old house!
When I first walked in I thought the hams were props in the historic house, but no, the whole area brings their hams in to be smoked! It was an interesting experience to learn about the French farmhouse.
mmm… anything to do with cheese sounds good to me. And if it’s in France, that has to be a bonus!
I never knew there was so much to learn about cheese until I went on the tour in France. It’s fascinating…and oh, so good!
This sure sounds like our kind of trip Marilyn. A mix of history and food in France. Sounds perfect.
That was my reactions too. I loved the history and the good food all set in French countryside.
Thank you Marcella!