Verziau of Gargantua, Menhir in Bois-lès-Pargny, France

The Verziau of Gargantua is a hard sandstone menhir 4.35 meters high and 1.50 meters wide at the base, tapering to just over a meter at its chipped top. Its pitted surface has deep hollows and raised lumps, with green moss patches and a notch cut into the left edge. It stands in a grassy field north of Bois-lès-Pargny, a few meters from a small copse.

The menhir was first mentioned by Amédée Piette in 1851. In the early 19th century a second menhir still stood nearby; its owner sold it to quarrymen who broke it up for its sandstone. The surviving stone was listed as a monument historique in 1889.

The name comes from Picard: a verziau is a whetstone, and legend says a giant used this stone to sharpen his scythe before leaving it on the hill in anger. A second tale has Gargantua shaking a stone from his boot and throwing it, where it stuck fast. Nearby plots are called Champ de la Bataille, though no battle explains the name.

The menhir stands a few metres from a small copse north of Bois-lès-Pargny, near Sons-et-Ronchères, on a low hill above the surrounding land. It is reached on foot from the nearby road; the surrounding plots are farmland, so keep to field edges and leave gates as you find them.

Numerous sandstone blocks weighing over 200 kilograms lie scattered in adjacent fields, revealing where the builders likely sourced their material. This geological abundance suggests the monument was built from locally available stone without long-distance transport.