Back to French basics; Barbara Hodgson gets close to nature on a food and drink break to France.

I'M standing in a pool of I don't know what and am hemmed in on all sides by cows. There might be a metal bar between me and them but this is an experience I hadn't thought out when I accepted an invitation to spend a few autumn days sampling the charms of rural France.

And it doesn't get much more rural than milking a cow. By hand.

To be fair, these were pretty placid ones so I agreed to try my hand, quite literally, at milking - and earned some praise from farmer Jean-Franois whose barn we were in and who then, rather more quickly, produced a mug-full (from the cow) for us to drink.

It's amazing the look on people's faces when I tell them this - but then it's amazing, really, how out of touch we are with our food.

And natural, back-to-basics food is what this trip to Franche-Comt - a rather neglected (by tourists) part of eastern France - was all about.

Nestling so close to the Swiss border - its houses are mostly wooden chalet style - the closest airport is probably Geneva but we travelled there by rail. For my part the train option was part of the attraction: first class on Eurostar to Paris - breakfast on the way out and lunch with wine on the return - was sheer pleasure.

Then a taxi from Paris Nord to its Gare de Lyon, and a three-hour train journey through lovely countryside to Frasne station.

If that sounds a tad much, remember these are TGV high-speed trains, with reclining comfort and tempting menus.

Food and drink featured heavily, I'm happy to report, on our itinerary and a big cheese in the area - quite literally, as it's referred to as 'Mr' Comt - played a starring role.

Comt is an unpasteurised, cream-colour hard cheese unique to the area.

Its nutty, sweetish taste varies slightly from one batch to the next, depending on what the cows eat and, of course, deepening with age - so we fitted in plenty of tastings just to compare.

And we followed through the whole, rather fascinating, cheese-making process: from Jean-Franois' farm - where passing visitors, incidentally, are welcome to drop in - we accompanied the delivery of milk to the nearby dairy, a focal point in the local village.

The next morning we visited a bigger dairy - or a 'fruitiere' as it's called, because milk and therefore cheese, is considered a fruit or product of the earth - to see how the enormous wheels of Comt are produced, then routinely rubbed in salt during the ageing process.

Finally, at Saint Antoine's maturing cheese cellar, a former military barracks, we were overcome - quite literally considering the smell - by rows of 65,000 wheels of Comt at various stages of ageing.

But they're justly proud of Mr Comt: it featured heavily on the menu at the aptly-named Le Restaurant du Fromage, near our hotel Bon Accueil in Malbuisson, whose interior actually looked as if it had been carved out of a block of cheese.

There they produce speciality dishes - fondue, tartiflette - a comfort food mix of cheese, potatoes, bacon and cream - and raclette, which is an experience in itself.

A popular dish, too, in Switzerland, it's a big wedge of cheese which comes to the table suspended by hook over a heated copper machine, and gradually drips over your plate of prosciutto and potatoes.

I'm not sure that it's possible to have a poor meal in France nor, I'd thought, wine but Jura vinos revealed themselves to be rather an acquired taste.

Nevertheless, a wine-tasting at Pcauld Castle in Arbois - in an impressively hi-tech tasting room with individual, stainless steel booths - was interesting and we learned, for instance, the Jura whites are actually heavier than the reds, so are tasted last.

A rather more popular stop was to the Emile Pernot Absinthe distillery, the newly-acquired premises in Pontarlier for absinthe where we were talked through the process of producing the 'green fairy' which everyone associates with sending Van Gogh around the bend.

Following a lengthy ban, today's absinthe, mixed with water and sometimes sugar, is a rather more sophisticated affair.

Rather similar to Pernod, this is the real deal: imitations are a poor relation made through plant infusion, rather than distillation, which, we're told, is like making tea with cold water.

The company is currently trying out a batch mixed with pine liqueur to suit the British palate.

To recharge our cheesed-out taste buds, our next stop in Arbois was the Edouard Hirsinger patisserie museum where, alongside staff rolling tiny marzipan fruits by hand in readiness for Christmas, the man who once won the 'best chocolatier of France award' plied us with goodies.

I'm not particularly a chocolate fan but these were pretty special - cardamom and anise in particular. Here, ingredients such as chilli, green pepper, even tomato and basil, are also used to keep things interesting.

Monsieur Hirsinger is the fourth generation chocolate maker and a mini museum downstairs traces the family history and features a copy of the original shop front.

We saw some newly revamped bed and breakfast accommodation in the area and my favourite - in fact my favourite trip - was to Chez les Colin, literally on the pine-forest covered Swiss border - a lovely drive through frost-covered countryside.

Christiane Colin, who runs cookery and art classes there (there's yoga too and, previously, skiing) has made a cosy country home of the 100-year-old former customs house, where old photographs of border control guards are peppered amongst the many paintings.

And if you want sheer relaxation and good food, like wild apple tarts or pork baked in straw, this is your place.

Guests mostly share sauna showers and toilets in the corridor but each bedroom has an individual touch, with a nature theme, antique furniture, seasonal colours and lovely views.

In her kitchen, with her cats keeping an interested eye on events, Christiane cooked local sausages, with vegetables and big sprigs of pine, entirely in wine; then made tartiflette and blue cheese tarts.

She cooks with plants from her garden, to give depth of flavour and colour, and here added cornflowers and marigolds, alongside mustard seeds to a salad.

It was my favourite meal, although a Michelin-star treat awaited us when we moved on for an overnight stay at the luxurious Chteau de Germigne in Port-Lesney.

The chateau, set in beautiful grounds, has the blend of traditional and modern just right, with a restaurant - all chandeliers and bold black and red colours - adding a touch of glamour. Post food-fest, that last night, I had the best night's sleep, the bathroom and bedroom windows opening onto the lawn, with the sound of its water features - and later, I realised, the first rain of the trip - drifting in on the night air, and mud, cows' udders, even Mr Comt, a fading memory.

CAPTION(S):

DELICACIES the often-overlooked Franche-Comt area is famous for its Comt cheese, left, known as Mr Comt, and Hirsinger chocolaterie, which also boasts a patisserie museum, while some Jura wines, centre, are an acquired taste. TREAT the Chteau de Germigne in Port-Lesney.