Thanks guys
the image was taken a couple years ago with a Fuji compact in The Pyrenees between St. Jean Pied de Port, (France) and Pamplona, (Spain) on the "Pilgrims Route to Santiago de Compostella" - on the spanish side.
In the summer - on the rural roads in France you will see many "pilgrims" who walk, (some hundreds of miles), on the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella - the route through the Pyrenees is arduous and sometimes dangerous, (in the past from bandits - now because the nights can be very cold - a couple of pilgrims froze to death in May a few years ago).
There are lots of "shell signs" all over SW France, (and other areas), that indicate the route
here is the sign, (usually sunk into rock, stone, or in the road surface - but now also on conventional signs)
traditional - in a small French village
more modern - in Bordeaux
I am always on the look out for the shell signs