The day starts grey and overcast with drizzly showers.

The owner comes to say hello and Ali goes with him to the shop to buy some cheese and have a look at the processing plant.

With the unpleasant weather we don't want to go too far, so after looking at a range of aires and passions we decide to visit Alain Quaak at his saffron farm. Luckily the rain stays away for most of the 80 minute drive to Clion.

When we arrive there is no-one around except a languid young dobermann but soon Alain arrives in his red 2CV and tells us he'll be back later to show us around.

We meet outside his little shop where first, with the aid of picture boards, he explains the stages of saffron production. Crocus bulbs are planted in July. The productivity of bulbs increases annually, over four years giving as many as 12 flowers per bulb. Flowering starts in October. This is when the intense work starts; the flowers are hand picked mid morning before they have fully opened so the pistils do not have too much sun. Indoors the flowers are squeezed open with fingernails and the pistils removed. Each portion of saffron has three strands and the long bitter tail is also removed by hand. The saffron is carefully laid on perforated dishes and heated to 60C for 10-15 minutes. Any more heat will cause chemical changes that spoil the flavour. Alain explains that to cook properly with saffron it has to be made into an infusion of 60C water, wine or cream which is added to the dish at the very end of cooking. Evidence has been found that saffron has been grown in France as long ago as 3000BC.

It takes 180 pistils to make up 1 gram of saffron. Saffron flavoured products in the shop include vinaigre, especially useful for deglazing when cooking meat, various fruit jams made to a local old lady's secret recipes, rillettes and pates and even a variety of beer. New products are biscuits, pasta and hydrating soap. And saffron is apparently medicinal too; saffron tea is said to work as an antidepressant and is also taken by menopausal women.

We tell him about the tradition of saffron cake in Cornwall and he is very interested, as anything to do with saffron adds to his enterprise. We promise to send him a cake from home.

We also see the young guinea fowl, now 6 weeks old, which were brought to the farm 1 day old to comply with 'bio', or free range, farming regulations.

The 'tour' takes us well over an hour and he is obviously passionate about his vocation. It's one of the most interesting and unusual farm visits we've ever done.