Every month, the Park invites you to meet the people who make up the Park! This month, we invite you to discover Aurélia Vidry, market gardener in Bouleuse.
Can you introduce yourself in a few words?
I am Aurélia Vidry, market gardener in Bouleuse since 2021. Initially, I had not planned this life path. I come from the banking sector where I worked for 15 years. No longer finding meaning in my job at the bank, I needed to find something more primary.
It started with a geographic move from the city to the countryside and after questioning what had meaning in life, I concluded that feeding people well was the basis. And with a lot of luck, I found myself in this reservoir of the Montagne de Reims Regional Natural Park. Which corresponds much more to my values of today and my work of tomorrow. I love the calm of my new environment, nature is my only boss!
Tell us about your journey!
So I was a customer advisor and then assistant bank branch manager. I really liked helping people but I needed to return to more essential values. So I resumed my studies to feel legitimate and passed my professional agricultural business manager certificate for 1 year in an accelerated version.
After doing field research, I was able to set up the project, with the objective of remaining on a micro-farm to only do local work, with a clientele of individuals and a few small artisans. What matters to me is that the circle is closed: I want to start from the seed to the final product, without chemicals and without pesticides of course! This seems very important to me.
We started as a couple but, today, I continue this beautiful project alone.
Tell us what your links are with the Park!
Since the beginning, my link with the Park has been a wonderful meeting with Laurie, Ambassador of sustainable food.
It's also about wanting to join the PAT (Territorial Food Project), because it's important to me that people eat well. In particular, I was able to participate in the farm visits project in 2022 and the Apple Festival, which were projects where we were able to pool our skills. I also helped create a civic services promotional video with Laurie.
These are new links to be strengthened through new events and new collaborations.
What is your favorite place in Montagne de Reims?
I really like the Hautvillers forest because I played there as a child and I return there often, still today. I'm going to the pond. I like the setting: nature, calm. There are few buildings, it’s the “Mountain”! Without necessarily walking for a long time I feel good there. It’s exotic and invigorating. I go there mainly in winter, when the winter sun warms us or in the fall, when the chestnuts fall, with the children who collect leaves and chestnuts.
It's a lot of childhood memories, of well-being, memories with my grandparents on weekends with this feeling of freedom.
What if we continued together?
Meet other local players!
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