Coat of arms of Béarn

Just back from long hols shared among the three 'B's: Berry, Béarn and Brittany. As every year, faith in France largely restored after driving again through some of the most glorious, varied, bountiful countryside in the world. I find it wonderful how the regions of France still treasure their identity. Take the Béarn -- a tiny area of the Pyrenees just to the east of the Basque country. It's not on any administrative or geographical map, but everyone knows where it begins and ends. It was the French bit of the old kingdom of Navarre, from where the country's favourite king Henri IV hailed. His memory is kept very much alive -- as is that of those semi-fictional characters, The Three Musketeers. Dumas based most of his protagonists on real-life figures, and there were indeed three bodyguards of Louis XIII called -- more or less - Athos, Porthos and Aramis. We were camping in the village of Aramits -- where Aramis's manor can still be seen. Local people very independent-spirited, and not altogether fond of the neighbouring Basques. Francois Bayrou, heads of the centrist UDF party, is from Béarn. Anyway -- enough romance. Now it's the rentrée, back to Paris and the inevitable blues. Let's hope the Sarko-Ségo show provides some entertainment.