Happy Easter

Old town in Petite Camargue, not far from Nîmes.

Village de Camargue où on a encore la chance de croiser, ou de dépasser des calèches ou des jeunes gens sur leurs chevaux. J'aime ça.  J'ai choisi cette photo parce qu'elle m'a fait penser à la photo de la flèche de l'église Sainte-Anne de Montpellier, que j'ai postée l'an dernier.

Joyeuses fête de Pâques, qui n'est pas pour moi la fête des lapins en chocolat.

Promenade en calèche

Au Cailar, dans le Gard....

Sunday Bridges....... on the Vidourle

Once a year, on August 15th (The Assumption), there is a race of funny boats on the river Vidourle in Sommières, Gard. I was standing on the Roman Bridge, which really dates to the Roman conquest (of La Gaule and then England), therefore in fact there are two bridges and two footbridges in the photo.

Lots of people usually attend these events, which are certainly not cultural but are so funny.

Sunday Bridges on San Francisco Bay Daily Photo

La course en bateau du 15 août à Sommières. Ca fait du bien de rire pour des bêtises une fois par an !

La Faluche

Students wearing their faluche and celebrating the end of the school year.

J'ai pris cette photo sur la Com' il y a quelques années. Ces deux étudiants qui célèbrent la fin de l'année universitaire portent la faluche, une véritable institution de nos universités.

Procession Saint-Roch 2010

Today the "Procession Saint Roch" took place in Montpellier. The statue of Saint Roch was carried in the city for an hour. Traditional music, associations, lots of attendants, the procession is always a big event here.

Aujourd'hui c'était la procession Saint-Roch à Montpellier. C'est toujours un grand et bel événement dans la ville. J'y ai assisté avec mon amie Geneviève.

Cookie Party

I was invited to a cookie party last Sunday. I had never heard of that tradition. I enjoyed it a lot. Only women, most of them young and pretty.... I brought a few cookies home. The wine was very good.

Pour les amies blogueuses françaises qui ne connaîtraient pas cette tradition. Avant Noël, les femmes préparent des cookies, puis se réunissent entre amies à l'occasion d'une cookie party où elles échangent leurs cookies et où on mange autre chose que des cookies et où on boit du bon vin. J'ai passé un excellent moment chez Christina, aussi aimable qu'elle est belle. Pendant ce temps-là, les hommes (des femmes qui en ont) se réunissent aussi devant la télé pour regarder les matches de foot :-)))

Barn

This little barn must have been oxblood red in former times. I have recently learned that the early settlers painted their barns with the blood of their cows....

Cette petite grange a du etre couleur sang de boeuf dans les temps anciens. J'ai recemment appris que les premiers colons peignaient leurs granges avec le sang de leurs vaches.

ABC Wednesday..... S is for Saint Roch

Saint Roch is the patron saint of the city of Montpellier where he was born in 1340 (approx.). Every year in August people from all over the world come here for the procession organized in memory of the saint.
Please visit Mrs. Nesbitt's place and the blogs of all participants in the ABC Wednesday...

Sardane

The Fête de la Sardane took place in Montpellier last Saturday. Many people from Catalunia danced and played music on the Esplanade all afternoon.

One can find a large number of videos devoted to sardanes on YouTube.

Anduze pottery

The city of Anduze in the Gard, the département next to Hérault, has been famous for its pottery since the 16th century. One can see this type of potteries everywhere in Montpellier.

I took this photo three years ago. I had played all afternoon with the little boy. I never met him again.

There is a wonderful "bambouseraie" in Anduze, probably the most famous bambouseraie in France.

Vineyard

Vineyards are the very symbol of my region. Unfortunately enough there are fewer and fewer vineyards left in the Montpellier area.

Fêtes de Saint-Roch

Montpellier has been celebrating Saint-Roch since Wednesday. Today is the last day of the celebrations. Animals will be blessed this morning before Saint-Roch church, and in the afternoon there will be a lecture in the "salle Pétrarque."

Yesterday I attended the procession. It was very different from the procession I had attended last year. There were stops in every church on the "route" of the procession. The streets were absolutely crowded.

For the first time in my life I could enter the Chapelle des Pénitents Blancs, sometimes called the French Sixtin Chapel because of the painted ceiling. It is a real wonder. You can see a few photos by clicking on the link.

I met there a young English teacher from Italy. She looks like Ségolène Royal, who could have been French president if more people had voted for her a few months ago. I took dozens of photos of the extraordinary chapel and of the pretty young woman. When I came back home I made a big mistake. Thinking that I had uploaded all the photos on my computer, I deleted them and formated the card. I was so sad..........

Anyway..... French people like their past. I saw lots of people in medieval costumes. Very beautiful and colorful.

The statues of the Virgin Mary and that of Saint-Roch are carried by people all around the city. The barons de Caravetes participate in the procession. They are made up of people whose families have been "from" Montpellier for three or four generations (I need to check). There were also people from other cities and many musicians from Italy.

It is a wonderful event, which allows us to meet a lot of nice people.

The Assumption

My mother was a fervent Catholic. A few weeks ago, my elder son moved. He found this old statue of the Virgin Mary in a box in his cellar. It belonged to my mother.

Today the Catholics celebrate the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is also my "fête" since I am called Marie.

This photo is a very "modest" one. But today I am thinking of my mother who would have been 100 years old this year (I was born when my parents did not expect to have another child!).

Saint Roch

Next week, Montpellier will celebrate Saint-Roch as we do around the 15th of August every year. Saint Roch is the patron saint of the city. The festivities attract people from around the world. I attended them for the first time in my life last year. Actually I think it is a pilgrimage.

During the celebrations, we can drink water from the well located in the house where Saint Roch was born in 1340 (approx), during the Hundred Year's War. We can also go and see the well, which is very deep (once a year only).

The house next door was that of Guillaume Rondelet, a famous doctor who lived in the 16th century and who received Rabelais in 1530.... Rabelais is considered one of the major French writers.

On my other blog, you can see photos of the procession, which I took and posted last year.

The statue shown in the lower photo can be seen on the wall of Saint Roch's house in the rue de la Loge. There are a lot of such statues in Montpellier.

The international association devoted to Saint Roch is very active...