Fêtes galore

This weekend marks the beginning of summer here. R and I have been seeing signs pop up along the roads like mushrooms, advertising local fêtes planned in the vicinity. At Gamme Vert and other garden stores, I see a steady stream of customers.

Our little town sits in the center of our valley and even though the town center is not big, there always seems to be things happening here. Today we had a very busy day visiting a number of events in town and Saint Claude.

Gastronomical tasting event. There was wine and food from local farmers and businesses. We tried dried saucisson from the farmer who keeps highland cattle a few kilometers from where we live. And I nibbled on crusty bread with different olive tapenades. We bought three pain au chocolate for 2€— formidable.

Palais Oriental. In France oriental usually means Middle Eastern (and North African). There were tables set up with food, tea, and drinks but the highlight of the day was the Turkish, Morroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian dancing shows scheduled for later in the evening.

Fort L'Ecluse nearby has a free Via Ferrata. I am a bit terrified of heights, so I'll happily watch from terra firma. But unfortunately we messed up on the dates and would have to return tomorrow to see the demonstrations on the actual date of the fête. Perhaps a thin metal wire will keep me tethered, but I'm not looking forward to walking a plank or traversing a tight rope with nothing below but tons of air!

Fête d'oiseau is located in another small town close to Geneva. Does this fête have anything to do with les oiseaux or birds? Pas de tout. It's just a small town carnival complete with rides and games. Again we were too early as they were just setting up the different stands.

DRIVING UPDATE
Driving lesson #7. I can pretty much start the car now without stalling. My shifting is still too slow but at least I'm not really thinking about the clutch anymore. We were in a small parking lot, with lots of turns, so I practiced turning and reversing. I want to practice again on the empty road and parking lot close to our house tomorrow.

After the driving lesson R and I visited the Asian market in Ferney-Voltaire. I hit the jackpot! The store is small but has a pretty good selection and reasonable French prices. I zoom in on big jars of sambal olek, tamarind paste, rice paper, vermicelli, ginger, fresh mangosteen, big bottles of fish sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, miso paste, nori, wasabi paste, Thai holy basil, fresh mint, fresh coriander, dried yellow mung beans, dried red beans, and tapioca pearls. They even have baking powder and baking soda, though I doubt I'll need such huge containers of them.

Leaving with my goodies, we journey to Saint-Claude stopping at le chapeau de gendarme, a rock formation created millions of years ago when layers of the earth pushed up, and split, revealing each distinct layer inside. The rock formation is so called because it resembles the triangular shape of a French gendarme's hat.

Saint-Claude is a small town home to a large abbey and some 11,000 people. I was feeling very queasy from the twisty climb up and down to Saint-Claude, so we sat outside at a cafe for a while and hung out with the locals before walking through town.

From what I could see the two main industries were devoted to smoking pipes and eyeglass frames. On our walk we stumbled upon a carnival three times bigger than the one we had initially planned on going to. We watch some teenage boys play a shooting game where they can win things like women's thongs and sexy fur handcuffs. Amused we left to find ourselves a snack and settled on doner kebabs. I got a regular kebab sandwich while R got le Americain which is a steak sandwich topped with fries. One odd thing I spotted is something called Reglisse Americain, American Licorice. The French seem to think it's very long strands of colorful, sweetly flavored licorice. I'm not a fan of licorice..so I walk on.

On our drive back I managed to stay awake (quite a feat for me, as I often get drowsy when I'm a passenger in the car). When we returned to town, we checked out the two festivals near the market square that we had visited earlier. The gastronome event was still going strong, as was the Palais Oriental.

Down the street we followed the rhythmic percussion of Arabic music and joined hundreds of people singing and dancing to the dance demonstrations. There are children dancing close to the front of the stage. And friends and families sitting together, talking and drinking out in the open. R notes that everyone's still well-behaved and there's no bawdy drunkenness. R and I find a place to sit near the front, listening and rocking out to the drums and an instrument that sounds a bit like a bagpipe. A long fine day in France.