Monday, September 3, 2012

Tap dancing in his clogs.





By lunchtime any semblance of order has disappeared. The harvest festival quickly reverting to time honoured chaos. Local farmers herd unwilling geese into pens. Ducks and ducklings waddle through the forest of tressle tables oblivious to the final round of the beetroot judging . Small children clap their hands in delight as they canter round the village green on the back of docile ponies. The farmer with the cauliflower nose and red cheeks plays the accordian and tap dances in his clogs. Mothers beam. Fathers drink copious amounts of  armagnac from a large metal vat. The deputy mayoress sells the surplus ice cream leftover from the village Saints Day for €1.20 a tub.  

Behind the salle des fetes a group of content cows munch on bales of hay while a group of wizened old farmers look on. In the salle des fetes a display of wicker buildings. All highly varnished. No explanation as to why they're there. We pretend to study them closely. On the platform the oversexed Parisian ladies from the art group have set out a display of paintings and hand made lace. The very old farmers 1948 tractor wins the concours d'elegance . The horses have their tails pleated with flowers. The sun shines down. The mayor makes a final inaudible speech. Madame Mayor, still wearing her sash, looks on. The formal end of high summer in France profonde. They're still drinking armagnac from the large metal vat when I close the shutters for the night. Life as it's always been.

17 comments:

  1. The little wicker buildings are really most impressive; much more appealing than Lego or pop-sickle stick buildings. Are they from the artists collective, too? And mama is cheered that the 1948 tractor is still going strong and was found to be most elegant. She's not that much older than the tractor, although not as elegant.

    Jed & Abby

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  2. Makes me think of our fair, only birds are all in cages, with large fans blowing air on them. Quilts, knitting, handmade canoe, scrap books, all kinds of hobby work. Flowers arranged in vases, homemade bakery, garden fruits and veggies, barns with horses, cows, goats and sheep and an ever pervasive aroma of manure.
    A healthy event for all.

    Jo

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  3. A colourful scene, even by the high local standards.

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  4. Sounds like our local shows. We love them.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  5. I like those wicker buildings and the plaited tail

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  6. A harvest festival in deepest France Profonde seems to be a rather interesting affair.
    Thanks for the photo highlights.
    Did you find out about the wicker buildings? They must have taken quite a while to make....taking patience and determination, and lots of skill.

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  7. Sounds really nice and we are little envious because of it's authenticty - here it gets rather showy and it is all about eating a lot.
    I imagine Foxiie, Daisy and Kiri (everybodies darling) walking around - have a great day - greetings from the South of Italy - had the first torrent of rain since end of May - Susanne, Daisy, Foxiie and Kiri

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  8. It really does sound like quite the celebration--I'd say the only thing missing was the giant paella dish!

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  9. How do the oversexed Parisian ladies find time to tat lace?

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  10. and in this chaotic crazy speeding past the sound of light world...
    your last sentence has a ring of pure happiness.
    "life as it's always been."
    simple pleasures, lad. and you've captured them all. thank you!

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  11. Wonderful photos and descriptions of the day. I quite enjoy those clever wicker buildings. I hope there was a prize for them. Thank you for sharing a delightful day!

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  12. It all looks good to me!

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  13. Sounds like a perfect day to me! I'd love to canter around the village green myself!

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  14. I am reading your post last thing at night, before I shut down. What a marvelous image to go to bed with, I say, with a smile on my face.....

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