The perfect day

Saturday was Armistice Day here in France. All over the region, ceremonies were held to remember the war dead. In Aniane, people were to assemble in front of the Mairie at 11am, and loud, stirring parade music started blasting out from the Mairie speakers at 10.45. I grabbed my camera and we tried to blend in with the locals although I don't think anyone was fooled. There was one military-looking person, beautifully uniformed in beige, two dress-uniformed gendarmes and a full complement of Sapiers-Pompiers (firefighters) including several women.


Lots of village folk joined as well as we processed behind two standards, out to the War Memorial on the outskirts of town (all of 5 minutes slow march).


Wreaths were laid at the memorial, two delightfully short and to the point speeches were given and then we jumped into the car and headed for Nimes (that's the three of us, not the whole parade!).

Nimes is an ancient city. In the middle of town is a 2,000 year old Roman arena, one of the largest and best-preserved still in existence. And even better - it's STILL IN USE!!! Bullfights (yes, I know) and bull-running are held there on a regular basis.



Bullfighting, the corrida, is the spectacularly gruesome pageant that we all know with the matador and the cape. Bull-running, or Course Camarguaise, looks like more fun, for the bull, at least. It involves white clothed young men testing their skill by attempting to remove a garland from between the bull's horns, while the bull tries to toss them out of the ring. The bull is not killed in Course Camarguaise. I've never seen it but they showed movies of it, and it looked pretty wild.



It cost 21 euros for the three of us to enter the stadium and take the self-guide audio tour, but it was money well spent. We spent the afternoon exploring and listening to the vivid descriptions of the Roman tournaments that were held there.

It was dusk by the time we tore ourselves away and Nimes was starting to liven up. Two beautifully decorated and lit-up carousels were open for business at opposite ends of the plaza and cafes were bustling. Em stopped for a ride on one of the carousels (note there are TWO storeys!).


On the way back to the car we found a Chinese restaurant that looked quite good. We picked up some takeaways - the first Chinese food I had had since San Diego. What a treat!

The sun was setting as we left Nimes and we drove back under skies the colour of ripe persimmons (nacho cheese orange, said Em). The sunset lasted so long and got so red that I thought we were being invaded by Martians but eventually it got dark, and then it was time for the All Blacks vs France game in Lyon, thoughtfully broadcast to the nation by one of the public television stations, France 2. What a great end to a perfect day.