Hello again readers! Since I was last blogging here, the whole format and set-up has changed. I'm not very good at consulting instructions, so will press on and hope all turns out well in the end.
The latest news here is the lead up to the 17th two-day Fete de la Cerise this Saturday ('twil be on the 9th of June) and Sunday. When we arrived here last October and found out about the Fete de la Cerise, we rushed out to buy a cherry tree to plant in our new spacious garden. Our neighbour reliably told us that the previous owner had cut down a cherry tree, so we thought we should replace it. Just last week we found out from other neighbours, that this isn't a cherry-growing area! The thing here is apples, which we did know about because of the local apple juice and cider-making 'factory', or maybe it's called something like a 'pommerie' or even 'cidrerie'. I should also add that we have since discovered and identified another cherry tree in the garden, but no signs or any blossom or fruit this year. The weather hasn't been great for cherry-growing I believe - we had hot sunny days in March (up to 30 some days), then rain for weeks, late frosts, then 20s and 30s again, so a lot of plants, fruit and veg are a bit confused.
Back to the Cherry Festival . . . Apparently either our local supermarket, G20, or festival organisers arrange for lots of cherry sellers to come from further south, so that they can't be done under the Trades Description Act, but that's only part of the fun. To my great delight, earlier this week Hoppings type vehicles started passing our door aiming for the Champ de Foire next to the Salle de Fetes (community centre) about 100 yards from our house. Every village around here has a Champ de Foire - it's the word for fairground and in the past would have been where the sheep or cattle market was held, as well as a fairground site. Ours is now a wide open space with a wooded area with lines of trees and rails where the animals would have been tethered.
Part of growing up in Newcastle was an annual trip to The Hoppings,The Moor, or The Town Moor, the largest travelling fair in Europe, held on The Town Moor come rain or shine (very often mud) for a week in June. Then later living in County Durham it would be a delight to see hoppings or 'shows' at various parts of the county or even further south as June approached making their way north to Newcastle, then south to events such as The Durham Miners Gala in July. I had that same feeling of excitement and anticipation this week when I saw a procession of assorted show vehicles with trailers and caravans - it also made me think of 'Something wicked this way comes' a great story by Ray Bradbury. By coincidence I heard on the radio this morning that he died earlier this week.
So, now the hoppings are installed on the Champ de Foire - kiddies roundabouts, what looks like a waltzer, something called Le Tremblaye and other shows yet to be revealed. Over the road stalls with striped awnings have been set up and among the many attractions there's going to be a GIANT Clafoutis (a local cherry tart), demonstration by the local young firefighters, a balloon sculptor, gyropodes (not sure what that will be), and a free dance beginning 9.30 Saturday night - a noisy night ahead with that and the shows, then more fun on Sunday with a free dance at 3.00 pm. I'm hoping that will be like you see in French films, with outdoor dancing to les accordeons! And of course, the usual restauration (refreshments) and a buvette (outdoor bar). The weather forecast unfortunately isn't good with some stormy weather predicted, for Sunday, and storms here are usually pretty impressive, so let's hope it changes for the better and we all have all the fun of the fair!
© Marie Tyler, 2012
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