Another packed weekend behind me…

Thanks to the very handy collection of public holidays in France, I had a nice break from work for the last few days. As this coincided with a visit from my parents, it was doubly-nice.

On Friday we paid a visit to Coulon, on the edge of the Marais Poitevin. This is an area of marshes and canals that criss-cross their way through the woodland, stretching from Coulon to pretty much the coast. Its somewhere we’ve been meaning to visit for a long time and so we finally got round to it. What a beautiful place it is. We only saw a very little portion of it as we had to get back in the afternoon for Molly to go to a party, but what we saw was lovely. Definitely somewhere to explore further.

Then on Saturday we took Mum and Dad to La Rochelle. We took a rather scenic route to get there, but arrive we did. Once within spitting distance of the city we began playing the “lets try to find somewhere to park” game. After circling round and round the city for what seemed like half an hour, we finally stumbled upon the park and ride car park. What a little gem that is! €2 to park for about 4 hours, with a free shuttle bus into the old port and back again. Thinking back to similar schemes in the UK I recall having to pay extortionate amounts for this kind of thing. The weather was lovely and we had fun exploring the city (although I fear the shops were more of a draw for some members of the family than others…).

We had lunch on the dock-side and ate an ice-cream as we watched the boats coming and going – all very civilised. We promised ourselves we would come back another time and see the aquarium – a bit more interesting for the kids than shopping methinks

Sunday was the day of the Fontenay Biennial festival. After a lazy morning (much-needed after lots of walking the previous 2 days) we lathered ourselves in suncream (the summer came in force this week) and headed off into Fontenay. Our worries about parking were unfounded as the town had opened up the car park at the Stade Municipal – lots of room and well placed for a short walk into the centre. We positioned ourselves at the mi-point of the main street and waited…and waited…and waited. The advertised start time was 2pm, but the parade was so steady, it didn’t reach our position until about 3.30! But it was certainly worth the wait. About 30 different groups filed past representing the different villages around Fontenay, as well as the different countries where the town is twinned with another.

There were flamenco dancers, line dancers, polynesian dancers, marching bands a-plenty. And the floats were amazing, all decorated with thousands of paper flowers. Mister Fontenay was there (as promised), as well as the countess and her predecessors. All the participants did incredibly well to keep going as the heat was so intense. It was a great atmosphere and there was no trouble (compared with similar events in the UK, where there would always be some elements of the crowd up to no good).

There were no police guarding the parade, nor barriers to hold people back. It was just a very friendly event with everyone having a good time. Just what we wanted.

So eventually the parade passed us by and we headed home for some much needed refreshment, before venturing back out for the night-time parade at 10pm. This was a smaller-scale affair, with pretty much the same floats as had been in the earlier one, but this time they were illuminated in various fashions. This was quite effective, but without the music is lacked a bit of the atmosphere. This didn’t matter to a lot of the participants though, as I think they had all kept themselves entertained in the local bars in between sessions!

The culmination of the night was supposed to be a firework display – the thing we had really come out for and the reason we allowed the kids to be out so late.

It was due to start at midnight, which, of course, normally means at least 20 past. But when it got to half past midnight and still there was no sign of anyone lighting even a match, never mind a blue touch-paper, we just had to give in and go home. What a shame, but everyone was dead on their feet and we just couldn’t wait any longer. Still, it had been a great day and we’re really glad we went.

Unsurprisingly Monday morning was a quiet affair – big lay-ins all round. Then at lunchtime we went for a walk in the woods at Mervent – one of our favourite places. It’s so beautiful there and so peaceful. We took a picnic and joined the other like-minded folks in enjoying it in the dappled shade of the trees. The afternoon was wet, though not with rain to begin with. Peter and Judith had invited the kids round to play in their pool and the adults for aperitifs. A very pleasant afternoon, although it was spoiled after a couple of hours by the rain. Still, we can’t grumble. It had been another lovely day.