FRANCE'S SUICIDE VALLEY - Canyon Clean-up Reveals Auto Graveyard

DER SPIEGEL ^ | November 10, 2006 | amb/AFP/The Times

[Atlantic Bridge]

Tons of mangled cars piled up at the bottom of the Grand Canyon de Verdon in Provence are sombre evidence of France's high suicide rate. But on a brighter note, engineers now clearing the accumulated wreckage of 100 years are uncovering a veritable auto museum.

The Parc Régional du Verdon is a lush green landscape of deep canyons, thick vegetation and freshwater lakes. Located 90 km northeast of Aix-en-Provence in France's south-eastern Var district, the "Grand Canyon of Verdon" attracts one million nature-loving visitors each year.

Unfortunately, some of them don't return. For decades, cars driven off the cliffs, some accidentally but many intentionally, have been piling up at the foot of the canyon.

It's a graveyard of old automobiles, some of them dating back to the 1930s. No one has bothered to it clean up -- until now. After two years of fund-raising, regional authorities recently completed the first two-week stage of a massive clean-up operation, lifting as much as 20 tonnes of debris out of the canyons.

[Atlantic Bridge]

No comment but some pics:

A old Renault

Another old Renault Juva 4 from the 30ties

A Fiat from the 80ties

[TexasTransplant]

So there are decomposing bodies along with the classic autos?

TT

[Moonman62]

I wouldn't be surprised, just like I'm not surprised by the high suicide rate. When France isn't in a state of surrender it's in a state of nihilism.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Only in France would a junkyard be allowed to accumulate in this fashion. (shaking head)

[JAWs]

What's the size limit on autos?

[Proud_USA_Republican]

France has rejected the church of christianity, and replaced it with the church of secular socialism.

Its no wonder soo many are driving their cars off cliffs.

[EagleUSA]

Yes, France always did brag about its "natural steel resources" --- here ya go... :-)

[quantim]

Always liked that 'metallic' in a lot of French wines especially the white Burgundies, and all this time I thought it was the soil. ;-)

Click to be +/- on this low volume wine ping list.

Non-oenology, French wine fun Friday night break from politics non-news ping.

[opinionator]

Haven't they heard of les guardes de raille?

[tubebender]

I wonder if there is a place like this in the US of A. I mean beside Indian Reservations...

[GVnana]

Looks like a rural US canyon road from the 1950s.

Had any good wines lately?

[ellery]

I'm still going to be laughing at that one tomorrow. :)

[ozzymandus]

For a small, densely populated region, there sure is a lot of junk laying around in Europe. There are some interesting sites about the WW2 stuff still being salvaged, much of it being restored for museums and private collectors. I'm not surprised that rusty rifles, helmets, etc., are still turning up, but there are tanks, airplanes, bunkers, and so on. I saw an interesting photo series of a gigantic German halftrack that was dragged out of a Polish river. There were only a few made, and none were known to still exist, so it's being rebuilt for a museum.

[Clintons Are White Trash]

Not really suprising - suicide is the ultimate form of surrender.

[Proud_USA_Republican]

There is a highway north of Seattle, lovingly labeled "The highway of death".

You basically have a four lane highway, with nothing seperating the oncoming traffic from one another besides those little white reflectors on the ground and some painted lines. The speed limit it 55. The roadway constatnly ices over during wintertime and collects water like a bathtup everytime it rains. Both sies of the road quickly falloff into large ditches with no guard rails.

Its a total deathtrap. I've driven through it on many occasions. If they didn't pull the cars out of those ditches, it would put that valley in France to shame.

[GVnana]

LOL!

[neb52]

For a $10 wine this wasn't to bad. Picked it up from a Central Market.


http://www.cartlidgebrowne.com/index.cfm?method=pages.showPage&pageid=aa196c58-9456-d0c0-42e5-519db13af6cd

[Gondring]

I saw an interesting photo series of a gigantic German halftrack that was dragged out of a Polish river.

To me, SS-Haupsturmfuhrer Michael Wittmann's PzKpfw VI Tiger I is the most intriguing find. But if that halftrack photo series is online, please point me to it!

[LibWhacker]

If they dig deep enough they might find Frédéric Flintstone's old car.

[kipita]

Selected Suicide Rates (per 100,000 people; year, male, female)....


FRANCE 99 26.1 9.4
HUNGARY 01 47.1 13.0
JAPAN 99 36.5 14.1
LITHUANIA 00 75.6 16.1
RUSSIAN 00 70.6 11.9
SPAIN 99 12.4 4.0
USA 99 17.6 4.1
BAHAMAS 95 2.2 0.0
JAMAICA 85 0.5 0.2
GUATEMALA 84 0.9 0.1

Source:

http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/suicide/suiciderates/en/

Warm weather???