Villages with funny names celebrated in 'crazy' Folles

All the members of the ‘Groupement des communes de France aux noms burlesques et chantants’ have one thing in common – a quirky name that raises a chuckle.

Former Saint-Lys mayor Patrick Lasseube came up with idea for the group in 2003, thinking that a yearly gathering of the funnily named communes would attract tourism and an interest in their local specialities.

Folles, in the department of Haute-Vienne, is just the latest in a long line of amusingly named communes to host the yearly event that brings members together. Previous hosts include Arnac-la-Poste (postal fraud), Poil (naked), Corps-Nuds (naked body) and Vinsobres (sober wine).

But it isn’t all laughs for some. A few years ago, locals from Corps-Nuds in Ille-et-Vilaine were upset with nudists taking pictures next to signs, and other towns had problems with vandalism.