FETE DU MIMOSA

February 14 was the Fete du Mimosa in Roquebrun. Its the first big event of the year, getting everyone in the mood for spring. It is timed to coincode with the blooming of the mimosa trees, a type of acacia that is endemic here. I even saw a few swallows, they're here awfully early. They were wearing fur coats and drinking hot toddys. Its still quite cold here, its been freezing every night. There is however, a lot of sun so the cold is bearable. Its warm in my house, and I dress warmly when I take the dogs on their long walk. They got to go to the Fete for a while, lots of other dogs and thousands of people. The streets were packed, and there were cars parked for about a mile up the road into the village. The village roads were all closed, as there was an artisan market on the main street and in the esplanade between the main street and the river, about a hundred sellers of everything from oysters (I got a dozen nice big ones for 4 euro), to strawberries, to bad jewelry. There were a number of nice things, and I also bought a watercolor of a village near here.

There was a parade, called a Corso here, which must be either Spanish, Italian or Occitan. It doesn't seem to be a French word. There were home made floats, trailers being pulled by decorated vineyard tractors, very charming. Several marching bands from surrounding communities, and a group of majorettes who I am sure were all over 35, and a few were probably 50plus. The final float was an old grape press, and tanks of wine on board being dispensed through a hose into cups which were handed out to the crowd. How great is that? The floats were fun too, children riding on them, and they were representing various civilizations. There was Egypt, Greece, the American Indians, the Vikings, and a couple of others -- the last one was the Gauls, and it was a big pig and some other figures, all poking fun at themselves, as these are the Gauls down here. There are a group of people dressed as bakers (see photo) and some may even be bakers, who dance around in circles and throw flour on everyone. Last year there was a contingent of vignerons in drag, but I guess it was too cold for them this year. I even went to the morning mass at the church, not having been to such a thing for about 40 years, since I went with my aunt once when I was visiting her. There are some very nice stained glass windows in the church, I don't know if they are old or not. The church is mostly from the 19th century, but has a small portion from the 14th. It was once an abbey with considerable land around it.

I think the Fete was a big success, I hope so. A bientot ....