A Battage and a Rendez-vous
There is certainly no shortage of festivals to enjoy in France, some definitely better than others. In the nicest way, it never ceases to amaze me how little it takes to make the French happy. Whereas we go to some country fairs and think, ’is that it?’ All around us we see milling crowds of several generations of contented French families just chatting to each other and munching on the obligatory gallette saucisse. It seems a shame that we expect more to entertain us than simple socialising.
In search of yet another car boot a couple of weeks ago, we ended up in the very pretty coastal town of St Molf and found a ‘Battage’ festival as well. This is a celebration of old customs, Breton dance and any other regional specialities. In St Molf they had erected a stage for the dance demonstrations, had an arena dedicated to old traditional games, a demonstration of old harvesting methods and enough food and drinks to feed several armies as well as a 200 stall car boot.
It was a lovely event, well organised and with a great atmosphere but at which, by UK expectations, not a lot happened but everyone had a lovely time.
In Loire Atlantique and in direct contrast, another Rendez-Vous sur Erdre was held last weekend. All along the river from ‘Motte Rouge’ to ’50 Otages’ on the tramway route in Nantes, groups vied with each other for noise supremacy. It was an exciting, vibrant and throughly enjoyable experience as always (3rd year for me). Each venue hosts a different style of music from trad jazz to head bangers with just enough distance between them to enjoy your favourite without the others intruding. Also along the river in swathes were food stalls selling everything from the usual moules frites and gallettes to exotic Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Arabic and African dishes. A great opportunity to try something new. Interspersed between music venues and food outlets were street entertainers and traditional seafaring craft exhibitions. Truly a great day out for all the family, made even more so by the good humoured demeanour of the crowds; no drunken yobs, pushing and shoving teen brats or other anti social behaviour spoiled the atmosphere.
I must go again next year but I’ll do a little research first to see who is playing and where, as going blind as I have till now, meant more often than not arriving at interesting sounding gigs just as they play their last notes. If you’d like to enjoy this wonderful music festival, book your gite with us soon to avoid disappointment.
by
A Battage and a Rendez-vous
A Battage and a Rendez-vous
There is certainly no shortage of festivals to enjoy in France, some definitely better than others. In the nicest way, it never ceases to amaze me how little it takes to make the French happy. Whereas we go to some country fairs and think, ’is that it?’ All around us we see milling crowds of several generations of contented French families just chatting to each other and munching on the obligatory gallette saucisse. It seems a shame that we expect more to entertain us than simple socialising.
In search of yet another car boot a couple of weeks ago, we ended up in the very pretty coastal town of St Molf and found a ‘Battage’ festival as well. This is a celebration of old customs, Breton dance and any other regional specialities. In St Molf they had erected a stage for the dance demonstrations, had an arena dedicated to old traditional games, a demonstration of old harvesting methods and enough food and drinks to feed several armies as well as a 200 stall car boot.
It was a lovely event, well organised and with a great atmosphere but at which, by UK expectations, not a lot happened but everyone had a lovely time.
In Loire Atlantique and in direct contrast, another Rendez-Vous sur Erdre was held last weekend. All along the river from ‘Motte Rouge’ to ’50 Otages’ on the tramway route in Nantes, groups vied with each other for noise supremacy. It was an exciting, vibrant and throughly enjoyable experience as always (3rd year for me). Each venue hosts a different style of music from trad jazz to head bangers with just enough distance between them to enjoy your favourite without the others intruding. Also along the river in swathes were food stalls selling everything from the usual moules frites and gallettes to exotic Afro-Caribbean, Chinese, Indian, Arabic and African dishes. A great opportunity to try something new. Interspersed between music venues and food outlets were street entertainers and traditional seafaring craft exhibitions. Truly a great day out for all the family, made even more so by the good humoured demeanour of the crowds; no drunken yobs, pushing and shoving teen brats or other anti social behaviour spoiled the atmosphere.
I must go again next year but I’ll do a little research first to see who is playing and where, as going blind as I have till now, meant more often than not arriving at interesting sounding gigs just as they play their last notes. If you’d like to enjoy this wonderful music festival, book your gite with us soon to avoid disappointment.