This second day was all about the carnival queen and the procession of the floats through town, music and dancing everywhere, all day and probably also all night long. The procession started outside the town, and we got there just as the last float was leaving the place where they all had assembled, coming onto the main road into town. We couldn't drive any further, as we were behind the procession, so I jumped out of the car and walked along the floats taking the pics, leaving my DH to find a way to get to the other side of the town and meet me there later. So the pics are somewhat back to front, but who cares? They are colourful and full of fun, and I had such a great time, I think I had a huge smile on my face all the time we were in town. So here we go, starting with the Carnival Queen and her entourage, and working forwards towards the start of the procession -
I don't know how many thousands, or rather millions of paper flowers were used in the decorating of the floats and the town, but I tell ya, the crepe paper manufacturers must have been very happy indeed.
This car, with the hunters, brought up the rear behind the queen and her princesses-
The smithy -
Les bodins ( French comedy duo )-
La musique -
Cider makers -
My favourite float, the SMURFS, yay -
The beekeepers float -
The beekeeper tried to smoke out everybody, lol -
This fella kept turning up everywhere throughout the day -
The amount of confetti being chucked by the spectators at the floats and passers by, was just astonishing. You might think that the kids were the main culprits. Wrong, the adults were far, far worse -
And my second favourite float, the MAGIC ROUNDABOUT, so cool -
The Wild West -
These naughty 'babies' were supposed to be in the lead car at the front of the procession, but they often left the car and wombled about instead, bringing the whole lot to a halt -
The residents of the retirement home sat outside, thoroughly enjoying it all-
I had to stop and admire this gorgeous old car, what a beauty -
Even the petrol pump at a tiny petrol station along the main road into town didn't escape, it was also decorated with paper flowers -
I finally managed to work my way to the front of the procession, and the naughty babies were actually driving their car and keeping the procession going along slowly. Note the Ricard bottles on the bonnet (hood) -
Normally, French villages and small towns seem almost devoid of life, there are never many people around, and I always wonder where they all are and what they are doing indoors. But this day, the town was chock full of people -
The kids were having fun collecting the confetti instead of throwing it-
People were lined up everywhere in the middle of town, waiting for the procession to arrive -
I stopped for quite a while to listen to this folk/country sort of band playing, getting everybody toe tapping and clapping -
I tried to work my way through town to where the procession was supposed to end, but kept getting stuck. Even the bridge was rather crowded -
So I just stayed put just past the bridge, and let the whole procession pass me instead of me passing it. And of course I couldn't resist snapping a few more pics :-). You will have seen these floats before, but they are so pretty, so seeing them a second time won't hurt, right? -
This bloke made quite an attractive woman, dang, his legs were better than mine!
And finally, finishing off with the last float, the Queen and her two Princesses -
I had so much fun, it was such a joy filled day. I wish you could have heard the fantastic beat of the drummers, the cheering of the crowd, the brass bands and the folk bands, seen the dancing and all the smiles, and heard the laughter all round. Definitely the highlight of the summer in our little Luzy.
Toodlepip and hugs to you from a now completely exausted little me ;-) xxx