14 Juillet
The 14th of July is a major celebration for all of France. Around the rest of the world it is often called ‘Bastille day’, but in France it is called, simply, 14 Juillet. It refers to the storming of the Bastille on that day in 1789, a mostly symbolic day, as many of the prisoners held there were released prior to the event. Every village in France celebrates it, including ours, which, we have learnt, doesn’t seem to need such an auspicious event to celebrate at all!
It all starts with a flyer from the Mairie, outlining the days events and calling us all to action. So not being ones to miss an opportunity to get involved, we walked down to the Hotel de Ville to pay for our dinner tickets. It was quite busy when we arrived, and there were plenty of greetings to make.
On the day of the 14th, we arrived at the Mairie’s promptly at 5pm (well, 10 minutes late maybe), just in time to see the beginning of the ‘Jeu de Quilles’, or skittles. We quickly learned that this was not so much like English skittles, but was more akin to a mix between pétanque (boules) and cricket, with the large wooden balls being lobbed, with some force, at the widely spaced skittles. The children were obviously much lighter handed, but no less committed. I got off to a flying start with just 1 skittle knocked over from my three throws, but Brian did a little better with 4. It was all great fun, and at the finish we concluded that Brian had come 5th in the mens contest, but our French didn’t stretch to how well I had done, so I’ll assume I won, or at least came close to winning.
After this we all sat for a drink before dinner, buying drinks from the bar set up in the Mairie’s kitchen. Of course the main fare was the local Champagne from Robert Grandpierre.
As dinner approached, our Mairie made a short speech in which he announced the commune would be providing an aperitif to all at dinner. We then enjoyed a glass of Laurent Perrier…as you do at such a delightful event.
Céline serving up the Laurent Perrier
Dinner was a buffet of charcuterie, coleslaws, salads and quiches. All very tasty, and followed promptly by a selection of local cheeses and a dessert of tarte aux pommes...yummy. We all chatted away, mostly in our broken French, but sometimes in English, to those that could speak a little and wanted to practice with us.
At the end of the night, we all walked to the other end of the village under lamp light, to enjoy a firework display set up in the vineyards. It was a spectacular end to a wonderful evening.
