Another Day in Perouges, France-am I in a movie set??

I was half an hour late for breakfast this morning because I was writing my blog. Tap, tap on the glass door, and I looked up to see the hotel owner staring at me (glass door that I carelessly hadn’t covered with the curtain coz I was the only one staying upstairs). I’m not sure if he was staring in shock or just staring, but he had a smile on his face! I only had a tshirt on! Anyway, I organised for him to store the backpack and I wandered into the village again. Sunday is the REAL celebration day and it was buzzing!

Once again, I ate delicious galette with sugar and cream, washed down with red wine of course. The shops were all open and I spent most of the morning just negotiating the ancient cobblestones in the street and taking photos. I watched stonemasons carving, a toy maker carving wood, bakers, cooking demonstrations over a tripod fire, artists sketching, and so much more. It was like a Hollywood movie set. Every inch of the town was occupied by medieval madness.

  
 Most of you will have seen my photos, but it seems that by the end of the day, I knew half the town. There was heaps of people there and even the tourists dressed up. Such cute little kids running around in costume and calling out to their papa or mama in their tiny little voices. There was a huge parade representing all facets of the medieval life. Some were dressed as animals, young boys were dressed as furriers, there was heaps of soldiers, gentry, maids, etc. then the king and queen arrived in the town square and everyone danced. It was terrific. It started with morning music of birds etc and the animal people danced as if they were waking up in the forest. Then the maids came out and it just went on and on. That’s when I met the soldier. He was fascinated that I had travelled from Australia and wanted to know what language is spoken there! We had a drink and quite a chat but he had to go to work so I moved on. The knight in shining armour singled me out of the crowd and we sat and talked for about 2hours. He is from Turin, Italy, and comes for the festival each year.

               I had such a great day, but my train left at 4 and no taxis on Sundays in France, so I had to walk down the mountain to the station, once again in 31 degree heat. A couple of trains later, I found myself in beautiful Annecy, a lakeside town at the foot of the Swiss Alps (known as the Venice of France). And….what a stunning place it is!