eight squealing piglets

eight squealing piglets “These Parisians, in the summer, they leave to go pandora braceletsee the country,” said William Villeneuve, the president of the Young Farmers union. “We’re bringing them the country, on their avenue.”

It was perhaps its sheer incongruity that drew massive crowds to the avenue that the French call the most beautiful in the world. The federation said that about 150,000 plants covered more than 3 hectares, or 7.4 acres, of the avenue. Farms animals — sheep, pigs and at least four breeds of cows — were held in pens along the avenue.

French farmers have seen incomes plummet in recent years — in 2009, they sank 34 percent from 2008 levels — and have been vocal in their demands for government assistance. But organizers said the event was not meant as a political statement, but rather as an opportunity for city-dwellers to interact with farmers and the rural world.

“The people worry about the animals,” said Nicolas Mousnier, 29, who raises sheep in Limoges, standing in a straw pit, watching over a herd of 40 sheep, a massive black sow and eight squealing piglets. “This connection still exists. We have to maintain it.”

He had spent much of his day reassuring visitors that the animals were not uncomfortable in the sun, he said. Nearby, onlookers craned over wood fencing to photograph a massive, heaving black sow on mobile phones.

Some saw in the crowds a measure of this city’s unfamiliarity with the natural world.

“You can see that they’re cut off from nature,” said Daniel Millet, 66, returning down the avenue with his wife from a hike outside the city. “People are truly curious about what they’re seeing.”

The event cost ?.2 million, or $5.3 million. Planners had anticipated two million visitors over two days, and the vast crowds on Sunday suggested that their expectationspandora bracelet would be met, the police said.