Fete de Saint Nicholas

Light show projected onto the art museum

Yesterday was St. Nicholas' Day, the reason for the weekend festivities.  The city's holiday lights were turned on throughout the Bastide, the markets opened, the rides for the children and grown children started spinning, Gambetta began its light show and of course, the Marche aux flambeaux wound its way down from La Cite through the streets.  Costumed artisans demonstrated jousting, medieval cookery, arts having to do with battle and ancient herbal potions (to heal the wounds inflicted by the battles!?)  I spent some time in one of the booths where the man in charge was explaining the fine points of chain mail and the protective armor.  I could not at first figure out what was so odd about the suit of armor he had displayed on the table.  Then it finally came to me.  I have posted a photo here and will see if it appears odd to anyone else.

Something is off?  And how small are these people, anyway?

Ouch!  Really, ouch!  The Bad Knigt?

There were a lot of tourists in town over the weekend.  The proprietress of a shop I went into to buy a Christmas gift was grumbling about the Spanish tourists and I did hear quite a bit of Spanish being flung around in the streets in La Cite.  There's never as much activity here in the Bastide.  

The beheading booth was quite popular.

This looks effective, unless you need to breathe.

This year I watched the torch parade from Place Gambetta.  John and Catherine and I were enjoying a bottle of cider at the Verre d'un  on the corner.  It's a wine bar that occasionally will make a plate of food to showcase the wines they carry.  Tonight's offering was aligot and saucisses...aligot and Toulouse style sausage.  Catherine and I split a bottle of  cider, which was the best cider I have ever drunk.  It's made in the French Basque region from wild apples.  We enjoyed cider and great conversation, plenty of interaction with the waiter and the owner, who, as promised, came to fetch us when the parade passed by.  We enjoyed the pageantry and then returned inside for the aligot.  By then poor John was more than ready for his supper.  Truthfully, we all were hungry.

A very sedate torch parade.  I could feel the heat as they walked by.

The parade this year wasn't as spectacular as the first one I saw.  I don't want to be one of those woeful carper/complainers.  I have been trying to figure out why I wasn't as thrilled as I had been the first time I saw it.  Obviously I knew what to expect this time, so the newness value wasn't there.  It wasn't as cold as it had been that first time, so the payoff factor for standing in the cold trying to stay warm was absent this year.  But I think the most important missing ingredient was the backdrop of La Cite; it just wasn't as impressive a sight to see the torches coming through the lit plaza with a light show playing as it had been to see the flickering parade make its way down the hill and across the pedestrian only bridge.  It felt as though there weren't as many costumed participants as in that first year, nor were there as many musical and percussive offerings.  The people who'd bought the torches (as part of the national telethon fundraiser) and were marching were quiet and reserved.  There were horses this year, which was great.  I think any shortcomings or disappointment I felt with this year's offering were mostly a result of my own poor placement along the route.  However, it was nice to get quickly back into the restaurant and to our cider and aligot.

Christmas lights down Rue Verdun

Just a side note about aligot. (pronounced alley-go) It's sort of like mashed potatoes with a whole lot of melted cheese incorporated into them. They are ready to eat when the mixture falls from a spoon in ribbons.  Ours were good, but should have been hotter.  They are a mess to clean in the pan when you heat them at home, but oh so worth the effort.  The surprise of the evening for me was the Toulouse sausage.  This restaurant uses a butcher out in Pezans and these were delicious.  Not too coarse, not too fine and not greasy nor overly spiced.  I have never been a great fan of sausage for all of the reasons I just listed, but I would have these again in a heartbeat.  

The wicker/twine balls light up at night--like planets

A crush of people at the hot wine booths

Carnot--non-vin chaud side

After the meal was over, we walked up to Place Carnot.  It was sort of late and the majority of the Christmas huts had shut down.  The hot wine places were doing a booming trade, however.  Just getting through the crush of people was nearly impossible. We left there and walked up to Chenier, passing  Bar 38 where live music was spilling out into the streets.  At Chenier, the Ferris Wheel was slowly spinning, but all of the huts were locked and dark. The children had all gone home by this time of night.  John's sweet tooth was crying out for some dessert; since we didn't find anything open, we came back to my house for the stash of chocolate and a pot of coffee and more conversation. I didn't get great photos on out outing Saturday evening; I am going out tonight at dusk to see if I can't do better. 

Ghostly Ferris wheel at Chenier

Officially, the holiday season here has arrived.  Stores are decorated and the rides and lights are calling to the children and their parents.  The wonderful silver Christmas tree of two years ago has been retired, I guess.  But there are other delights: the light show at Gambetta projected onto the front of the art museum, tunnels of lights to get into and out of the parks.  The Ferris wheel this year is lit in brilliant white, rather than the yellow incandescent bulbs of the past.  Dare I say that I don't like it as well?  I just don't want to be one of those hidebound people who can't abide change.  God knows I have made enough of it! I have decided to not let my yearning for things to be exactly as they once were spoil my enjoyment of the way things are now.

Another scene from the light show

One of the local "lords"

Open fire heated wine

Chain mail