My father is a Francophile and always has been. In the early '50's (when he was in his early 20's) he took his car to France with the intention of seeing how far south he could get. At the time, a particularly delicate and scary chapter in the Cold War was unfolding, and the original CND ban the bomb protests were taking place in England. He was driving down a long straight French road when he realized that he hadn't seen another car for a while. Through one deserted village. Then another. Still no signs of life. The thought seized him that perhaps nuclear Armageddon had begun, the French had all gone to shelter, and he was the only man out in the open!