Roquefort

Today we had a magical trip, first to the caves where Roquefort cheese comes from, then on to the wonderful Norman Foster designed Millau Viaduct.

Blipper BrodieB is telling you the story of our day at the bridge, so I'll do the Roquefort bit.

Roquefort-sur-Soulzon clings precariously to a very special cliff face, 2km long, in the Aveyron department of France. It's just a village, with fewer than 700 inhabitants.

We pitched up at the Papillon cheese maker's shop in the main street. Luckily for us we had a VIP tour as we were the only visitors, unlike the summer when they have around a thousand people a day. Heaven knows where everyone parks.

You can check out the whole process involved in the making of this AOC cheese on the Papillon website. However, the reason that Roquefort only comes from this special place is the presence of fleurines -special air currents that pass through natural open passageways in the rocks that keep the caves at the same temperature and humidity all year round. They don't occur anywhere else apparently.

We had a wonderful tasting after our tour then bought four different cheeses and some sheep's butter. I can't wait for supper. Thoroughly recommended next time you're down our way.