We’re big fans of Pipototal. If they were alive today, so would those creators of entirely credible, yet utterly incredible machines and contraptions, W. Heath Robinson and Rowland Emett. We first came across them last July in Lavelanet the night the entire town turned itself over to festival and merry making because it was one of the towns chosen as a Tour de France departure point. That evening, as darkness descended, we followed an increasingly zany procession of fantastical vehicles, only very loosely based on planes, bicycles, limousines, bubble cars, driven by the acrobats, street artists and clowns of Pipototal. Well, their centre of gravity is l’Aiguillon, a village very near here, and on Saturday, they were celebrating their 20th birthday. So we had to join the party. The bad news was that the Saturday was
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