Gabriel Chevallier’s delightful novel CLOCHEMERLE satirizes the titanic confrontation of secular and religious forces in a small wine-growing village in Beaujolais. The eruption begins when the socialist mayor decides that he wants to leave behind a monument to his administration’s achievements. He takes as his model the ancient Romans, who were famous for two things–hygiene and noble edifices. Thus, he decides to unite the two concepts… by constructing a public urinal in the centre of town. There is one problem, however. The chosen locale is next to the village church, and this outrages the ecclesiastical party.