What A Waste

On Friday I walked again down the Voie Verte - the old railway line or chemin de fer - from Lavelanet, almost into Chalabre, then on quiet roads home. The temperature was in the mid-twenties, ideal, one would think, for outdoor activities. But once again I saw only one person on foot for the whole 23 kilometres I walked. What a waste that cycle/walking/horseriding track is. The similar track which we frequent in New Zeland, the Central Otago Rail Trail, is swarming with people. They and the businesses - accommodation, food outlets, cycle hire - which have sprung up to service them, have transformed the economy of a rural area very like this one.