so, we walked on to investigate.
We met the ex-secretary of the Maire walking in the opposite direction, very agitated. She didn't know what was happening either, but to meet her in the woods shows how anxious she was too - we have never seen her walking out on her own before.
It started to get dusky. Then we saw this
and within 15 minutes turned into this
We walked on but I worked out where the fire was, and I was right. It was coming from a nearby farm I know well - we used to get free milk from them for our poddy lambs, in exchange for a box of persimmon fruit.
Then of course, the fire engines roared into the night, six in all, with (apparently according to next day's newspaper) thirty fire officers.
Heading back to the village in the dark, without a torch, we then bumped into a friend zooming off in his car to see if he could offer any help, and a neighbour who told us that it was the farmer's youngest son's wedding that afternoon! Of course! We had seen the gathering outside the Mairie, all in wedding suits and summer dresses! What a way to start married life...
It was their huge barn and milking shed that burned down - all 1000m2 of it, with their hay and straw for the winter. So sad...
The next day, there was a huge procession of tractors and livestock trailers moving the cows: all the other local farmers were helping to move the black and white milking cows to other farms for milking, and the huge Limousin cattle and calves to fields on the other side of the village. Back and forth they went, all day, in all about 25 trips I calculated.
The farm belongs to a lady farmer who has stated that she has lost the last 25 years of her working life... how awful.
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