Playing Chicken

  Those of you who follow closely the breathless saga of our trip to the mountains, will recall that I left you with a cliff-hanger--we didn`t go straight back to Deux Sèvres.  In fact, we had been invited by Arlette, one of our fellow campers to spend a couple of days visiting her and meeting her husband Laurent. They and their family run a farm on the outskirts of Orthez, a town we have never visited. We had previously cleared with our heroic caretakers of the Ark`s passengers for us to take a further three days leave of absence!

   The farm is charming with a distant view of the Pyrenees, and Arlette and Laurent made us very welcome indeed. Besides the normal field crops, the farm keeps a few chickens, some 17000 of them in fact!  They are housed in special arks and the fowls are free-range and sold for eating. There must be money in chickens, as not many farmers have a lamborghini parked outside! I would add in case this is taken too seriously, that the vehicle in question is a tractor!  Isn`t it odd that the same firm makes luxury cars and tractors?
  We had a very pleasant few days eating outside often and also visiting,(and eating) with other campers on their own ground. Now we`re home again and getting used to a lighter diet!

   Well, bedtime calls... meet up with you again soon!