A special roundabout | Le Franco Phoney

I love French roundabouts (as you may have noticed). They can be quite detailed, with scenes, gates and all sorts of themes. I had to stop and take some photos of this one, near the west coast of France, which had all sorts of rural scenes going on. Pictured in the photos are a man harvesting with the help of a horse, and a woman doing something else, um, rural. Other scenes were happening on the roundabout, but these were my favourite.

First of all, check out the horse’s eyes. What’s the surprised look for? Perhaps it’s because of the ski-like planks of wood that the horse is attached to. Meanwhile, is the farmer actually sinking? Maybe the horse is pulling him out. Or maybe they haven’t finished it yet and they’re all just water skiing. That would also explain why the horse is looking down with some concern.

Meanwhile, what is the woman doing? Is that a stick in her hand? Is she beating wood or has someone stolen some clothes she’s meant to be washing? Or is she supposedly whacking some wool that has disappeared? Is she originally from south America? And why did they model her on someone with elephantiasis?

Despite my cruel mocking, this is actually one of my favourite French roundabouts so far. What’s not to love about it? It’s far more interesting than a few overgrown weeds. I will be taking more photos of roundabouts in France for this blog.