A Day of Two Halves

Apart from my birthday on Thursday, (when I had a lovely lunch at La Redorte on the Canal du Midi) we haven’t done a lot for the last few days, so when we noticed that one of our neighboring villages, Alairac, was holding their “fête de la chasse” on Sunday we decided to go. We had been to this fête in 2006, the first year we were here, and the weather then was amazingly hot. This year couldn’t have been more different. The sky was overcast and the temperature was more like a day in March, rather than June. We watched the local hunt, with a pack of hounds, playing a fanfare at the corners of the village. They all looked very smart in their black riding jackets and red waistcoats.

There were also cages around the village with packs of hunting dogs, such as bassets, and dachshunds. Some were lively little things, others were cowering in the corner, which we found rather saddening. I am not sure if it was the weather that had kept people away, but the fête was not as exciting or bustling as 2 years ago. We were quite disappointed.

In contrast, after lunch, we went to Caunes-Minervois, where there was a festival of sculpture and marble. The sun was out. The beautiful village was alive with visitors and there were numerous artists displaying their work. They had really brought the village to life. The artists were either out on the streets or had borrowed/ rented garages in the village. There was an incredible range of artwork. As there is a marble quarry nearby, marble was predominant theme, but there was a wide variety of other mediums. There were sculptors working in marble, iron, bronze, wood, glass, clay and paper.

Especially for Jan, a panda made out of wood

There were also mosaic workshops, plaster moldings, talc sculptures, marbled painting, marbled paper, marbling, forged iron and medieval arms. It was possible to visit the quarries by horse-drawn carriage, but we passed on that. There was a gourmand market, selling the usual local products. We had a lovely afternoon.

After watching England’s victory over New Zealand, it was quite scary to see this mask at Caunes. It reminded me of Ryan Sidebottom! (This will probably mean nothing to my French readers.)