As you know, the flu had me stuck in bed for a few days. So there was much catching up to do; albeit on the go-slow.
Saturday. Montmartre, and the 80th Vendages de Montmartre (Wine Harvest Festival). I had begrudgingly dragged my sorry arse out of bed, snuffly & spluttering, to go see some random food festival in Montmartre I'd heard about ages ago & had been looking forward to going to ... well! Am I glad I did!
Montmartre has the only vineyard left in Paris (given Montmartre wasn't a part of the city of Paris until 1860. It was once on the "other side" of the Farmers General Wall; a tax-collecting divide between the rural areas (Montmartre included) and the city of Paris. After the Revolution, the population of Paris had grown so much that walls surrounding the city were knocked down, and rural areas like Montmartre, now the 18th Arrondisement (suburb), found themselves a new part of the city). And as I discovered, there are two distinct sides to this not-so-little suburb ... the Moulin Rouge, city, touristy, sex trade side; Sacre Coeur at the top of the little (?!) hill being the divide; and then the "normal" side, of lovely shops and winding streets, LOTS of stairs, but far fewer tourists (well, I imaging there'd be far fewer tourists ... Saturday wasn't the best day to be my guide! There were tourists & locals alike, everywhere!)
Anyway, the Mayor opened the festivities; and the parade began. There were people representing all different parts of the wine & food components of the area - the "official" grape people, other grape people who had a cart & were giving out samples of the wine (I use the term loosely in this instance ... it was red, and young ...) garlic growers who were throwing garlic into the crowd (that came in handy for my mushrooms that night!!), strawberry growers (who thankfully didn't throw strawberries at anyone!), flower merchants who one of the locals told me gave flowers to all the single girls who approached them, musicians playing all sorts of traditional instruments & marching bands that left me grinning from ear to ear with the fabulous beats they imparted on the crowd, people smoking fish & then hanging it on sticks (that was weird). But as with everything in Paris, it was very organised, yet somehow hap-hazard all at once. It took a couple of hours, winding its way up the hill, finishing not far from Sacre Coeur; and that's where you were pleasantly greeted with your reward for all your efforts ... food & wine from all the different regions of France! Woo hoo! I got to try some lovely champagnes which used traditional grapes from different regions, for the first time I had frois gras (not sure what all the fuss is about to be honest ... didn't do much for me, anyway). had my first snails of my holiday (I really do love them!), and just got to soak up the atmosphere at one of the really neighbourhood festivals in Paris. There were fireworks later that night, but given I was still under the weather, I didn't stick around for the 10pm start (was well & truly finished counting sheep by then!), bit of a bummer because I love fireworks!
How is this for spooky?!?!?!
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| I'm still not sure how Buffalo Bill fits into it all!! |
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| I travel all this way to see a Coopers!!!! |
