So I asked my landlord where he buys his cow bells. Apparently this was a faux pas.

“These farming families, we do not buy bells. Our bells are handed down from generation to generation. Each family has a certain kind of bell – square, oval, a slightly different color metal. Perhaps also the collar is different – it may have special nails or be of a certain leather – perhaps it is worth more money than the bell. So to buy a bell? This is not possible. Perhaps in the Alps.

But in the Alps, they make brass bells, with carvings that are specific to each family. You could not afford one. It is their way of telling us in the Jura that they in the Alps are rich, because they spend so much money on their beautiful bells. Well, I bought a whole cow instead of such fine bells. That is why the Jura farmers are actually richer. We just don’t have to show you with our shiny bells.”

– the history of les cloches de la vache, according to Georges Faure