The freedom to baa whenever you feel like it.
© Meredith Mullins

No BS: New Law To Preserve the Sounds and Smells of the French Countryside

It would not be unusual when thinking about the rural heritage of France to find a sign at the outskirts of a typical French village that says:

Enter at your own risk. We have bells that ring regularly. We have roosters who sing early in the morning. We have livestock herds that graze here (and might be wearing bells). We have farmers who work to give you food.

If you do not support these things, then you are not in the right place.

This pride of place is the new manifesto of the French countryside. In January of this year, the desire of agrarian areas in France to remain connected to their rural heritage is now supported by law—the new French Sensory Heritage Law.

This law protects the rights of the country dwellers to their heritage—the smells and sounds that are an inherent part of rural life.

Sensory heritage as far as the eye can see
© Sheron Long

You guessed it—that includes the earthy/rotten-egg smell of manure, the crowing of roosters, the clanging of cow bells, the chirping of cicadas, the baadboy baaing of sheep, the croaking of frogs, the grinding of tractor gears (seemingly always in need of WD-40), the quacking of ducks, and other sounds and smells that will soon be added to the codified list.

Tractors are an inherent part of farm life . . . and a necessary rural noise.
© Rene Rauschenberger/Pixabay

The tension between country locals and the influx of the neo-rurals (as they’re affectionately called) is rising, as tourists and second-home owners descend on charming French villages to seek solace in the peace and quiet of the country.

However, when you leave city noises far behind, all is not quiet. The countryside comes alive with its own symphony. And, for some people who are looking for ultimate silence, these new choruses don’t fit the picture of paradise.

The Soundscape of the Countryside

Immerse yourself for a moment in some of the sounds of the French countryside:

Would these sounds drive you crazy? It depends on your respect for tradition and terroir. (It also depends perhaps on how early in the morning or how close to home said sounds and smells entered your world.)

Moo-ve over neo-rurals.

The Neo-Rurals Are Challenging Rural Heritage

For some countryside visitors, these natural sounds trigger feuds, complaints, and lawsuits.

In Le Beausset in southern France, Mayor Georges Ferrero was asked to kill the town cicadas because they were too rowdy. He responded that the cicadas were the music of Provence, and he built a cicada statue in town to honor that heritage. Their song lives on.

One cicada is interesting. A thousand cicadas are music.

Mayor Francis Durand of Les Bondons in Occitanie was asked to delay the ringing of the church bells, so that vacationers could sleep later. The mayor denied that request saying that the church bells were a part of the village and had been ringing for years. (There might have also been a few words said under his breath.)

Other feuds in the headlines included a complaint against quacking ducks in the Landes region of France (a hub for duck breeding) and irritation over cow bells in the Alps region.

I think ducks have a right to quack, especially in the region known for breeding ducks.
Don’t you agree?
© VancouverLami/Pixabay

A couple in the Dordogne was ordered to fill in their pond to prevent the amorous croaking of frogs during mating season (measured at 63 decibels, similar to the sound of a vacuum cleaner).  However, several protected species thrive in the pond, so the couple faced an additional dilemma—an issue still being sorted out in the courts.

The amorous sounds of mating season

The Poster Coq: Maurice the Rooster

The underlying differences between urban and rural—what is rightful heritage and what is not— rose to a crescendo in the case of Maurice, the Oléron Rooster.

Vacation home owners on the island of Oléron in western France were neighbors of Corrine Fesseau, the keeper of Maurice (and several other egg-laying fowl).

They sued her in 2019 for the “abnormal racket” of Maurice greeting the day with his obligatory morning cock-a-doodle-doo (a crow called “discreet” by Maurice’s lawyer). Too early in the morning, the plaintiffs said. But Maurice couldn’t help himself. He had his tradition.

Maurice stands proud on his poster.
Courtesy of Corrine Fesseau

The court sided with Maurice (as did more than 140,000 supporters who signed a “Save Maurice” petition and followed a Je Suis Maurice social media campaign). The plaintiffs had to pay damages and legal fees.

Support in every form, even T-shirts
From the Oléron shops

Maurice’s lawyer closed by saying, “This rooster was not being unbearable. He was just being himself.” The roosters brought by locals to the courtroom in solidarity agreed.

Although Maurice passed away in June, 2020 (a hero and a symbol of rural life to the end), Maurice II has now strutted in to preserve the heritage of morning crowing.

“Je suis Maurice” the rooster supporters of Maurice crowed in solidarity.

Vive La France . . . and Its Special Sounds & Smells

These growing complaints and lawsuits culminated in action by Pierre Morel-à-L’Huissier, a member of the French National Assembly. He crafted a law proposition—The Law Protecting the Sensory Heritage of the French Countryside.

The use of the word heritage was deliberate, as heritage in France has special meaning. It implies protection of something important and culturally relevant that is in danger of being lost. The proposal passed unanimously.

No one wanted to lose the charm of the countryside.
© Sheron Long

And in January, 2021, the new Sensory Heritage Law passed unanimously in the French Senate, giving local governments legal backup and, hopefully, preventing the kind of lawsuits that made Maurice the Rooster famous.

After the law passed, the Secretary of Rural Affairs, Joël Giraud, added that French rural territories are not just sceneries. They are also sounds, smells, activities, and practices that are part of France’s heritage.

Sometimes it’s nice to stop and smell the lavender.
© Sheron Long

I Love The Smell of Rural Heritage in the Morning

If you don’t like the smells of farm animals, if the melodies of cow and sheep bells aren’t in your Top Ten, or if you would rather sleep past the morning rooster wake-up call, you may need to readjust your vacation or home-owning plans.

Oh, I See. To put it more simply, if you can’t appreciate the rural heritage and cultural traditions of the French countryside, then “you are not in the right place.”

Tell me the truth. Does this bell make me look fat?
© Meredith Mullins

Soundscapes courtesy of World Sounds and Zapsplat. Thank you to the following sources: The Local Paris, The Guardian, France 24, and The New York Times.  

A special thank you to Corrine Fesseau, fighting for the rights of rural heritage and her roosters Maurice I and Maurice II.

Comment on this post below, or inspire insight with your own OIC Moment here.