By the time you get to read this post, the excitement of the past month will have abated a little!
Saint-Chinian has had a busy summer, packed with events! Since the night markets were so successful last year, they were held each Tuesday throughout July and August. There was music, food, and shopping, all in the main square, decorated with French flag bunting and coloured lights!
The passing of the Tour de France through Saint-Chinian on July 13 was a day of great excitement for the village! It took the same route as last time (in 2011). First came the “Caravane”, a long line of all kinds of publicity vehicles! They distributed all kinds of goodies: hats, bottled water, jelly beans, newspapers, shopping bags, pens – you name it. All thrown at the bystanders!!
The cyclists came into the village along the Avenue de Villespassans, down the main street, and then they took a sharp right onto Avenue Raoul Bayou. Luckily for us, the sharp turn slowed them down somewhat!! 😀
And hot on the heels of the cyclists (excuse the pun) came Bastille Day!! The national holiday celebrates the storming of the Bastille (a prison in Paris) on July 14, 1789, an important event of the French revolution, and also celebrates the Fete de la Federation, which took place on July 14, 1790, and which celebrated the unity of the French people.
In Paris there is a huge military parade, along with an impressive display of planes flying in formation overhead:
And at night, the Eiffel Tower is lit up with the most amazing fireworks:
But all over France, even the smallest villages ‘go to town’ and make the national holiday a festive event! Look at how prettily the town hall in Saint-Chinian was decorated:
The fireworks in Saint-Chinian are usually not be sniffed at either – they are pretty impressive!!
Unfortunately, this year’s fireworks in Saint-Chinan had to be postponed, due to very strong winds. To everybody’s great distress, Bastille day ended in horror for the people of Nice and throughout France – next year it won’t feel the same.
After Bastille day came the Fete du Cru. Since it was not really a celebration but a wine fair, it was deemed to be OK to go ahead during the mourning period for the victims of the terrorist attack in Nice. As always, the market square had been lined with two rows of booths, and you could taste the wines on display simply by buying a glass at the booth by the entrance. I’ve written about this great event a few years back. You can read the post here.
Did you go to any festivities this year? What was your favourite?
great post as usual!
see you soon Inger and Torsten
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Thank you, Inger and Torsten – glad you enjoyed the post!
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Great shots! I’m looking forward to the fall harvest festivals. Lots of yummy treats to discover.
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There’ll be many treats and festivals, but I’m still enjoying summer 🙂
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Great post. This summer I attended a few art festivals. It is so exciting to see all these talented people sharing their creativity.
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It really is wonderful being able to enjoy all that talent – I do that every time I visit your blog!
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Oh you are so kind. I can say the same about your blog. Beautiful people sharing their gifts with others – doesn’t this world have a chance?
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We watched our tv with great excitement as “le Tour” passed through St Chinian. It certainly revived memories of seeing the televised 2011 event, and also of course led us to reminisce about our stays right there in the town. We’ll have to try hard to be there for le Fete du Cru one year soon too. It is good to know that it was able to proceed, in spite of the shocking terrible events on and just after Bastille Day this year. Vive la belle France!
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Hi Wendy,
Glad to hear that you managed to watch the Tour coming through Saint-Chinian!! The Fete du Cru is always a good day out, and one to be enjoyed at least once 🙂
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how wonderful, night markets with music!! I would so love to be there for this. Plus, TdF must have been fun. I lived in DC when the Olympic torch went by in front of my house, (must have been 98?) en route to Atlanta, and it was so exciting!
I continue to take mental flights to Languedoc and dream of living there – but life is quite frugal on my freelance income. Someday, though, I may email you about inexpensive year round digs (or perhaps Sept thru May)
I look forward to your posts,
fondly, Patrise
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