We headed to the neighboring village of Annot. They were celebrating their patron saint's feast day - St. Fortunat. I'm not sure why he is their patron, but it was interesting to see how they celebrated his feast day.
Poster for the week's festivities |
A parade was scheduled to start at 9:30, but as we gathered along the parade route, we noticed that we were the only ones. Very unlike the typical parade in America where people line up for hours before to ensure they get a good spot. It seemed as if no one was particularly worried about this. The parade consisted of a fabulous marching band followed by some men in traditional military uniforms of the Napoleonic era and women, also in traditional dress bringing up the rear.
Me and some soldiers :) |
The parade continued into the old part of the village and into the church for mass. I also attended, arriving after all the parade members were settled but before the band finished and the service started. For the most part of I was able to follow along - combination of poor French language skills and being a life long Catholic. It is really hard to think/respond in English while everyone else is speaking French. I missed that the prayer books were at the back of the church and not in the pews. Communion was the most haphazard I have ever experienced in a Catholic Church - instead of nice orderly lines, everyone went up when they were ready. Not sure if this was normal or due to the fact the church was added onto at one point that there was no center isle anymore. The band ended the service with the most moving rendition of "You Are My Sunshine" that I have ever heard. I'm not even sure how to describe what made it so good- perhaps the amazing talent of the band itself combined with the fact that I recognized the song and could join in with a group of people I had been struggling to understand for the last hour. Not that anyone was actually singing . . .
Check out this video of the parade - the band was amazing!
Following mass the parade reformed and processed back to the main square where the statue commemorating the war dead was located. All the speeches were in French without any translations - this was to be expected since it was a celebration for the people of Annot by the people of Annot. During the ceremony, some of the women in costume placed a bouquet of flowers on the monument and the soldiers were subjected to an inspection by the mayor and the leader of their unit and ended with a salut of arms, firing rounds in unison with their guns and cannon.
Note: Memorial to the right, Mayor wearing the banner just to its left. |
The band and reenactors paraded out and it was time for the apéritif- apparently free drinks draws a crowd, including us. We enjoyed whiskey and Pastis before catching the bus back to Vergons.
Back in Vergons we headed to Gilbert's (pronounced Gee-bear) house for lunch. We made sandwiches out of tuna, eggs, olives, etc. Very different, but very good. Laughter and drinks made for a good start to the afternoon. After lunch, I headed back to the Gite to read and take a nap only to wake up to a huge crack of thunder. A few more games of Carassonne before dinner, our last in Vergons. The restaurant owners out did themselves with a wonderful roasted pig. It tasted amazing, as always. They even put a candle in Tim's dessert since it was his birthday and as a result of all of this we were the built in entertainment for all the other patrons of the restaurant that evening. Very much a bettersweet feeling packing and preparing to leave Vergons for the next leg of our journey.
For more photographs click here.
Lines for the apertif |
For more photographs click here.