samedi 25 avril 2009

FETE AU VILLAGE

There is a little town named Fourques, growing right on the other side of the Rhone river from Arles. Last weekend after the Feria in Arles, it was the turn of Fourques to have its fête. All the elements of the traditional village merry making were there : a miniature amusement park, lots of noise and loud music, chichis and folksy dancing. And our house is of course right in the middle of all this, oh joy !

And since we are in the toro region : wild bulls in the streets (and on the cars whose owners’ forgot to park them far away) and much ado in the arena. But no tragic Spanish corrida here, just lovely, acrobatic course camarguaise. For those who don’t know about it my larger half made a lovely mix of the videos he made on his new, shiny telephone. I think it speaks better than a lot of words or photos so I include it here.

Just two words of explanation : the reason why the boys are reaching between the horns is that they are supposed to catch the cords and tassels fixed there. Every item represents money they’ll collect in the end. The course camarguaise bulls are smaller than the corrida bulls, they live a long life, are appreciated and are known by their names by the afficionados. Some even die of old age and are burried standing in the manade’s grounds. And now, enjoy the lightness of these youngsters !
Un video pour illustrer mieux que milles mots la course camarguaise, la spécialité toromachique de la région de Camargue.

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