Unusual in Riddes (VS): Captivated by the landscape, he gets out of his car on the A9 and starts to… paint

PublishedAugust 6, 2022, 9:59 PM

Unusual in Riddes (VS): Captivated by the landscape, he gets out of his car on the A9 and starts to… paint

An 85-year-old French tourist had a surprising attitude Thursday around 3 p.m. on a highway exit. He walked through a guardrail and pulled out his easel to paint the landscape.

An 85-year-old French tourist confused the motorway exit with the paint shop.

Reader-reporter

“I wondered what this car immobilized at the exit of the A9 motorway in Riddes was doing there. And I saw an elderly man who had crossed the guardrail and who was painting”. Charles-André, a 52-year-old from Valais, witnessed an unusual scene on Thursday around 3 p.m. The reader-reporter took the trouble to inform the cantonal police of Valais of the presence of the unoccupied vehicle. “Officers informed me that they had already been warned by other motorists and that a patrol was en route.”

The painter with atypical behavior is an 85-year-old French tourist. Captivated by the beauty of the Valais landscape, he mightn’t help but immortalize the postcard setting that presented itself to him. Even if it means taking a motorway exit for a paint shop. When the police patrol arrived, the octogenarian had put away his easel and was regarding to leave the scene. “As this man did not obstruct traffic, the officers settled the case preventively,” said Cynthia Zermatten, spokeswoman for the Valais police.

(apn)