They start with 600,000 eggs every year (squeezed out of the mama trout as if she was a tube of toothpaste- very disturbing). Each egg takes about 20 days to hatch, 20% die and the remainder are taken to fresh water upstream. The farm is very beautiful (though we stayed in the lower portion only). The fish are allowed to grow for 2-5 years depending on the required size, and they have a pretty good life until the bitter end, when they are not fed for 1 week, then caught and served.
The farm dog seemed very pleasantly surprised every 10 minutes to discover that fish lived on the farm with him.
Next stop, Pierre Oteiza, a famous producer of ham and the happiest pigs in the world- pie noir du Pays Basque. The breed has almost disappeared (by some accounts down to the last 25, when the French government and local farmers stepped in. At this farm, the farmers wife received 2 piglets as a wedding gift and now they have 45 breeding females and 400 pigs roaming the mountains. The pigs are in the mountains from about 6 weeks old until 15 months or so. The breeding females stay closer to home in the straw/metal huts and 2 litters per year.
Lunch was in a small café at Pierre Oteiza with a fantastic spread of saucisson, cheese, bread, ham, salad, wine......absolutely perfect. See if you can spot all the pig shaped table décor. The pig made out of wine corks was my favorite.
Bonus points to anyone who knows the proper way to serve the saucisson cones.
We could (and likely should) have stopped eating at this point, but instead we visited Chocolaterie Antton, Fromagerie Agour and L'Atelier du Piment. All were delicious, but the l'Atelier du Piment , a pepper producer, was the stand out.
Run by proud Basque women for generations, the red pepper that they grow here is particularly delicious, and we had tastings of multiple products as well, including sauces, chocolates, etc. They also made us ham and cheese crepes and served, of course, more wine.
Dinner was intended to be on our own n Bayonne- but really, who needs more food? Opted for a drink and conversation at the hotel bar and to bed.
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