Day 489 - 26th July 2008

Ah, the Pyrenees. How lovely it is to be  here once more, finally away from the sweltering polluted wasteland they call Provence.

I'm being a bit harsh on my own birthplace here, I know, but I like it so much more in the mountains that on the French med. One of the reasons for this is that the way of life here intrigues me somewhat.

For example, when we pulled into the village, the hill on which my house in perched on had been engraved with a certain 'motif', pictured. The guy on the right there is meant to be a 'man sitting down'. What the bloody hell were they thinking? It looks like he's laying some serious cable up there...

Then, the writing on the right hand side of the hill is to celebrate the victory of the local rugby team in some national tournament. This is meant to appeal to tourists, but their organisation's acronym is 'USA' (union sportif aspoise). Something tells me that one might already be taken.

France isn't a big fan of America, or the USA as some like to call it, so carving this into a mountainside for the whole valley to see probably wasn't the best idea. Hey, at least it's next to a picture of a man relieving himself, so passers by will know it's a village full of nutters to be avoided at all costs - smooth move.