France – Traditional Cheeses of Massif Central & Auvergne

The rugged plateau of Massif Central and Auvergne is famous for its rich, green pastures and its six benchmark AOC French cheeses. Three semi-hard varieties date back to the 12th century and Will explores the differences between them while visiting a disused railway tunnel, where more than 3,000 cheese are now matured. He then attends a cow fair, where the locals celebrate the annual transhumance – the seasonal livestock migration - before visiting the village of St Nectaire and a troglodyte-dwellng, where cheese is still matured on rye straw mats.