"THE BERET might just be the world's most useful hat. Far from a mere circle of felt clinging precariously to the head, it can be arranged to protect its wearer from sun, rain and cold. It also makes a handy dish.
Most importantly, when rolled up like a newspaper it becomes a formidable weapon (naughty French children are threatened not with the wooden spoon, but a caning from the chapeau).
The Musee du Beret is France's homage to this helpful headwear. Housed in the village of Nay in the Pyrenean region of Bearn, it provides a lovable and amusing history of the hat. Even before I enter the museum, I see two men clad in black berets, sitting in the village square sharing a joke. In between laughs they carefully adjust their hats.
Inside the museum, any doubts about the practicality of the beret are dispelled once visitors are shown the introductory film recounting its many functions. One cheerful farmer says: 'When you are young, your beret is perfect for collecting cherries. When you become old, it is perfect for belting those who steal your cherries!'
Legend has it that the very first beret was made from the wool of the lamb Noah housed in his ark. Around AD1280 a figure wearing a beret was carved into the church of Bellocq in Bearn, providing the first official recording of the hat. By the second half of the 19th century, large-scale beret factories operated in a handful of towns in Bearn, including in the building that now houses the museum. It is still in this region, and in the neighbouring French Basque country, that the beret is most commonly seen, proudly flaunted in paddocks and on footpaths alike.
It is ironic that a symbol so profoundly linked to French patriotism in the eyes of the world is actually used by the Basques and Bearnaise to assert their cultural individuality. Most Basques see themselves as culturally independent from France and Spain.
The Bearnaise, too, consider their culture unique, being a traditionally Protestant minority with a language related to Occitan, not French.
I pose this to the museum's curator, a tall Bearnaise woman with a black beret slung over her left ear.
She frowns on hearing my question, nodding. 'During World War II the beret was a symbol of the French Resistance, and I think for many foreigners this image has stuck. Sure, you do see berets on the streets of Paris and Bordeaux, but for the people of Bearn and the Basque country, it is different. It is a reminder of who we are.'"
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