It's in the hamlet of Bard in the commune of St-Martin-en-Vercors, at an altitude of 900 meters, that we meet Elena and Jonathan, the proud owners of the Chèvrerie du Bard for our Rendez-vous du Terroir. An organic goat farm made in Vercors whose ethics and local values ​​are reflected every day.

Arriving from La Chapelle-en-Vercors, just before the village of St-Martin-en-Vercors, turn left and follow the back roads. A few farms and fields later, you cross a small forest where it's a good idea to stop for 2 minutes to listen to the birds singing. A good breath of fresh air and you're off again. Just a few hundred meters and you'll arrive at the Chèvrerie du Bard.

Arriving from La Chapelle-en-Vercors, just before the village of St-Martin-en-Vercors, turn left and follow the back roads. A few farms and fields later, you cross a small forest where it's a good idea to stop for 2 minutes to listen to the birds singing. A good breath of fresh air and you're off again. Just a few hundred meters and you'll arrive at the Chèvrerie du Bard.

With sunshine and an exceptional view of Roche-Rousse, we just want to stay here and enjoy the beautiful weather. But hey, it's freezing, and we're here for the goat cheese and the cheese!

With smiles on their faces, Elena and Jonathan open the goat farm doors and set off to meet their 80 goats. Boots on their feet, cameras in hand, everything is ready to take their portraits. Between Lili and Mimine nibbling on the shoelaces and Césaria mistaking sweaters for soft grass, you could say these little creatures are a bit clingy.

After a few shots, a crashing noise echoes through the goat shed. Nothing serious, it's just Sirka, their Anatolian Shepherd who, despite her pony-sized appearance, leaps the fences with ease. Impressive in size, Sirka is nonetheless a big ball of love who's mostly just looking to be petted.


On the farm, everyone has a role to play. Sirka and Yuki protect the herd, Plume manages the farm under Elena, who cares for the goats. Jonathan, on the processing side, makes the cheeses. Of course, with 80 goats, 6 cheeses, 3 dogs, and 2 cats, Elena and Jonathan are always busy maintaining the farm, the shop, and the animals.

Seeing them with the goats, you'd think they'd always lived with them, but that wasn't the case. Elena already had a farming background with her grandparents who were farmers. She would help them when she was little and found it fun but never considered it a career. It was after a few years of study and a period spent with her farmer uncle in Méaudre that Elena developed a passion for goats.

In 2020, she decided to buy the goat farm on her own and sell the milk to cooperatives. A processing laboratory was already installed; all that was needed was someone to take care of it.

And as fate would have it, Jonathan, an engineer at the time and living in Vercors for several years, was looking for an agricultural activity to change his life.

So it was in 2021 that Elena and Jonathan met. Not for a cheese story, but rather a love story. After a few months of spending all his free time on the farm with Elena, Jonathan stopped his engineering career and officially joined the Chèvrerie du Bard as a collaborating spouse.

Collaborating spouse? According to Elena, this is unusual. Traditionally, women are the "collaborating spouses," and what's more, they are usually the cheesemakers, and the gentlemen are the ones who look after the goats.

But in Elena's family, we didn't let that happen! Her grandmother was a big protester and always said “I’m not a farmer’s wife, I’m a farmer!”It is certainly thanks to her that Elena has this tendency to overturn the codes.

Being a farmer today is a constant challenge. The years go by but are no longer the same. Between dry weather and rain, snow and spring temperatures, climate change seriously challenges the way farmers operate. How to manage pastures, hay, pest risks… It's a challenge that we live with every day. This climate variability and uncertainty also have economic impacts, explains Jonathan.

We buy as locally as possible, regionally, we are subject to variations in the price of these foods and we behind cannot apply variability to the price of cheese. It is in some way our remaining income which adapts to the vagaries of the weather. […] We buy our food, let's say, as far away as possible in Rhône-Alpes, and yet we are subject to the vagaries of a war which is 4000 km from here and we are still feeling the consequences of Covid and the war in Ukraine today.

But living in the Vercors also means living with inhabitants with strong values:

“We are a small region with values ​​of consuming locally as close as possible.” reassures Elena.

Today, the Chèvrerie du Bard window displays two yogurts: plain and vanilla – remember Yaourt Vanille? – and six types of cheese: a traditional goat's cheese crottin, an ash log, a fresh cheese with herbs and honey – heart-shaped for the more romantic among you – a goat's cheese raclette, a tomme, and finally their specialty: Camembert, a goat's cheese Camembert… It's worth the detour, guaranteed!

The products of the Chèvrerie du Bard are available on the stalls of the La Chapelle market on Thursday mornings, in the organic shops of Saint-Jean and Villard de Lans, as well as in local stores in the Vercors-Isérois and Royans regions. You can't miss them; they're the labels with the little goats everywhere!

More of a restaurant person? Chèvrerie du Bard cheeses are also available at many local restaurants.

But the best thing is to go directly to the farm to do your shopping. And maybe they'll even let you taste their goat's cheese Camembert!

La Chèvrerie du Bard, a wonderful experience recommended by the Vercors Drôme Tourist Office.

Who would have thought that a love story would end in Camembert?

Maé's recommendation

Try the fresh cheese with herbs and honey… On good toast it’s to die for!

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