Agricultural Show: 2,022 sheep and a touch of madness on the Champs-Élysées – South West

A few minutes later, no less than 2,022 sheep (but also cows, mules, horses and other herding dogs) tumbled out of a…

A few minutes later, no less than 2,022 sheep (but also cows, mules, horses and other herding dogs) tumbled out of a dozen trucks. “Step aside, ladies and gentlemen! “, intimated shepherds and CRS together.

There was like a grain of surrealism, this Sunday, March 6, for the Béarnaise Folies, during which animals and shepherds paraded, for two hours, on the upper portion of the “most beautiful avenue in the world” in front of several tens of thousands of people.

“They look so sweet! »

“They look so sweet! exclaims a little one from his father’s shoulders. Others don’t hesitate to put their money where their mouth is, throwing their hand at the passing lambs.

“Frankly, I say hats off, there is no barrier, we are really there! », Appreciates Sylvie, a Parisian who comes with her family as often on the first Sunday of the month – since the Champs are then free of cars.

“It’s funny, it’s quite incredible to see the animals here,” laugh Fatima and Sébastien, who came from Boulogne-Billancourt and Blanc-Mesnil with their children after reading the announcement of the event on “Paris secret,” a Facebook group.

“My favorite thing is the cows,” says Zachary, 10, while Yanis, 9, says he’s “impressed by the big donkeys” – strong mules indeed. Yliane, 3 years old, pacifier in her mouth, doesn’t miss a beat.

Transhumance at Unesco?

This zaniness full of meaning, fruit of the abnegation of Jacques Pédehontaà, the mayor of Laàs and outgoing president of the Agency for attractiveness and tourist development of Béarn and the Basque Country, closed the Salon de l’agriculture in style.

It also supported the request for recognition of transhumance as an intangible heritage of humanity that France and six other countries must file before the end of March (a process already validated in 2019 for Italy, Greece and Italy). Austria), which should make it possible to safeguard this multi-millennial mode of agriculture, exemplary in terms of respect for the environment.

At the podium, installed half a kilometer from the Arc de Triomphe, Jacques Pédehontaà did not mince his enthusiasm to praise the work of the Béarn shepherds and moreover, “a landmark” in a world crossed by crises – health , climate and safety.

He then welcomed for the inauguration the Prime Minister, Jean Castex, and the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo.

Another presidential candidate was not far away, a certain Jean Lassalle, whose shepherd brother, Julien, had also spoken a little earlier to call on the crowd to defend the rural world. We also note that no bear came to disturb this improbable transhumance. Madness has its limits.