Let the music play

Under normal circumstances, the Fete de la Musique would be taking place all over France this weekend.  With the current Covid-19 crisis, the events have been cancelled pretty much everywhere.  So here is a virtual Fete de la Musique, by means of an article I wrote in 2014 – I hope you’ll enjoy it!

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On June 21st, the whole of France celebrates the Fete de la Musique, with parties and concerts everywhere – and who am I to miss out on a party!!?? 😀

So I rounded up a  few friends and together we went to Beziers to see what we could listen to!  We left fairly early, and as we walked from the underground car park up the Allees Paul Riquet, it became clear that we had arrived a little too early.  But still, it was good to be able to have a look around without missing anything!  The food stalls looked colourful and the smells were tantalising!!

We headed for Place de la Revolution, where the Sardanistes would be dancing later in the evening.  The plan was to have dinner at Brasserie du Palais, and be able to listen to the music and watch the dancers from the comfort of our table.  On the way to Place de la Revolution I came across some interesting details.

The atmosphere in Beziers was very summery and festive – lots of people out in the streets, all getting ready to party in one way or another!

Our meal at Brasserie du Palais was delicious!  A large plate of tapas to share, followed by great main courses, and nice desserts.

The restaurant takes its name from the former archbishop’s palace, which is just across the square, and today houses the local courts of justice.  Next to it is the cathedral, and we had a fine view of that from our table.

We were just about finishing our desserts, when the musicians started to gather on the stage, and it wasn’t long before they struck up their first tune.

And as soon as they started to play, the dancers appeared – at first only a few of them joined hands to form a small circle.

Now a word about the music and dancing – the Sardana is a Catalan tradition, played on instruments of which a few are not found elsewhere in France or Europe.  The band is called “Cobla” and the dancers are called “Sardanistes”.  For the full explanation please have a look at the Wikipedia entry, which I think explains it all very well.

I was watching in blissful ignorance, enjoying the uplifting sound of the music and watching the dancers with fascination.  It seemed as though anyone could join in, and the circle grew larger and larger, until it was all around the fountain and the square.  The steps seemed to be very simple – it was only later, when talking to a couple of the dancers, that I found out that there was a lot more to it! 🙂 .

The band, as well as the dancers I spoke with, had come from Perpignan, where they had already performed earlier that day.  They explained that the Sardana is a traditional dance, as opposed to a folkloric dance, so nobody wears any special costumes.  Both the dancers were wearing the traditional espardenya shoes though – you’ll be able to see these shoes in the video below (e-mail subscribers, please visit the webpage to view the video).

 

Did you notice how the flute player also plays the tiny drum, which is strapped to his arm?  The double bass has only three strings, and its player is really going for it!  We sat and listened and watched, and enjoyed every minute of it!!

It was getting dark and the lights came on, and with the whole square alive with music and dance, it was just magical.

When we had had our fill of the Sardana, we wandered over to the cathedral, where another concert was just coming to the end:  Nicolas Celero at the piano, playing music by Franz Liszt, and Michael Lonsdale reading in between the musical performances.

On our way back we walked down Rue Viennet and passed Place du Forum, across the road from the town hall, which had all been transformed with strings of lights into the most magical of places.

The Eglise de la Madeleine looked very majestic, lit up against the black sky.

And then we reached the Allees Paul Riquet once more, and wandered amongst the many people who were either watching the act on the main stage in front of the theatre, or just enjoying the start of summer.

Mark your calendar for next year, and plan to be in Herault around June 21st – I promise you’ll enjoy the festivities!

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Twelve months, thirteen pictures

This week, I would like to share with you the series of photographs from the calendar I made for 2011.  Let’s start with the cover picture, which is a collage of the twelve photographs used for the calendar:

The picture in January was of the fire burning in Stephane’s bread oven.  Stephane revived an old bakery in Azillanet, and he baked the most amazing bread in the old wood-fired oven.  I visited his bakery several times and wrote about it back in 2013 – you can find the article here.

Almond blossoms featured in February:

The picture for March was a still-life I took at a friend’s house near Roquebrun.  I loved the shape of the glass jug and way the sunlight streaked across the table.

On the page for April, a honey bee was showing us how it’s done – collecting nectar on a quince blossom!

The landscape around Saint-Chinian is beautiful, and a small bit of it was on show during May 2011:

June is prime time for strawberries and this dessert was a wonderful example of what can be done with a few simple ingredients and some imagination!  Crushed meringues, fresh strawberries, whipped cream, the whole topped with vanilla ice cream mixed with strawberry coulis.  Writing about it makes my mouth water! 🙂

The sunflower in the July picture grew in my garden:

The August picture shows the bridge over the Canal du Midi in Le Somail:

I adore fresh figs – their taste and texture are so far removed from the dried figs of my childhood!  In Saint-Chinian fig trees thrive!  Delicious figs can be found in the weekly outdoor market during the summer months or on walks in the countryside!

During October, I showcased some of the houses along the river in Saint-Chinian.  The stone facades contrast beautifully with the red ochre facade.

The sweet buns in the November photograph were baked at Stephane’s bakery in Azillanet.  And very tasty they were too!!

The ‘shining stars’ in the last picture of the year lit up a stall at the Montpellier Christmas market.  They were very colourful and festive!

So there we have it – a year in pictures!  What’s your favourite picture of that year?

Lost for words

With all the unrest and anger in the world, I am lost for words.  So many people are hurting, more are being hurt every day, and I feel powerless to help.  I was thinking that there is too little peace in this world and that’s when I realised that I could share some peace with you – from my garden to you!  I hope this does not sound flippant; it’s not meant to!

When I bought the garden, there were a number of well-established rose bushes.  The most beautifully scented of the roses died the winter before I bought the garden, but the others continued to flourish.  I knew that one of the roses was ‘Queen Elizabeth’, but I did not know the names of the other roses.  I tried to find out what other varieties of roses I had growing in my garden, and I hope that I managed to correctly identify the one in the pictures below as Mme A. Meilland, also known as Peace.  There is an interesting story to the naming of this rose, which you can find on Wikipedia via this link.  Here is an excerpt:

The adoption of the trade name “Peace” was publicly announced in the United States on 29 April 1945 by the introducers, Conard Pyle Co. This was the very day that Berlin fell, a day considered a turning point in the Second World War in Europe. Later that year Peace roses were given to each of the delegations at the inaugural meeting of the United Nations in San Francisco, each with a note that read:

“We hope the ‘Peace’ rose will influence men’s thoughts for everlasting world peace”.

I wonder how many of those plants from 1945 are still flourishing?  I hope that these pictures may bring a little peace to you!