Indeed. I never made it into a cow barn in Normandy - mostly because it was impossible to find rubber boots in a US size 13. I did have Frye boots (2" heels are a mistake when you're a 6'1" American visiting 70s France), but the farmers I spoke with needed me to wear footwear that 'could be made antiseptic'. Not sure if that was for the cows or the cheese making.

I'd have had my parents ship me rubber boots - but I thought they were asking for a particular kind (little fuzzy on that as my French... wasn't the best).