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Subject:
[adventure!] Montpellier Carnaval
Date:
2/27/2004 10:21:37 AM
Howdy friends and family,
I'm back in Montpellier and waiting for a train after a
strange set of
coincidences (and a thorough lack of understanding of the
french train
system). Spent the last couple of days in Carcasonne, a
beautiful town with
an old sectoin that is a beautiful castle inside which is a
fantastic youth
hostel. Unfortunately, outside of which is snow. At least
that was the
prediction this morning as I quickly packed and headed for
the train.
Oh, before I forget. In my last email I called many of you a
bunch of
going-to-bed-by-11:00-non-party-animals. If you were
offended by that
remark, please keep in mind that I was not referring to you,
but someone
else on this list.
So, when I was here in Montpellier last, I discovered to my
delight that it
was Mardi Gras. I wasn't sure what that meant, so that
evening I headed
down to the main square (Place de Comedie) in search of
hubbub. On my walk
there, I was encouraged to see many people dressed up in
silly costumes,
with painted faces and some with props. When I got to a
little street that
led to the square, there was a parade coming! I stood aside
while groups of
people walked slowly by with drums, big barrels, other
(mostly homemade)
percussion instruments, and of course, horn sections, making
a huge amount
of noise and a constant rythm that hushed and swelled
causing people to jump
around and dance and kiss eachother. So much energy!
Of course everyone was drinking, but everything was so
peaceful and happy,
and there were so many laughing smiling people, it was hard
to predict what
was about to happen (i'm trying for suspense here).
Well, what happened between the passing (of me, not dying)
of the second and
third bands, was that I got to witness a spectacular parade
'float' that I
called the 'Spinning Mary and Jesus Martini Mobile'. A
couple of French
guys were pushing along a float which had, in a sort of
plexiglass box, a
lifesized mannequin of the virgin Mary. She was wearing a
white dress and
just generally looking virginy. I noticed the box was
supported by a rod
that passed through the centre of each side, and through
Mary's hips,
supporting her in the middle and making the box rotatable. I
waited.
Eventually they spun Mary backwards, and as her dress went
flying up over
her head, I noticed that there was a baby doll (I think it
was that guy from
that controversial movie) nailed to the bottom of the box.
Ah, the French!
Behind Mary (or rather now in front of upside-down Mary)
there were two
upside down bottles attached to the float's frame from which
these guys were
making and dispensing martinis.
Anyway, I follwed the tail of the parade into the square
where the bands
seperated (to avoid musical interference) and continued
playing among the
(let me stress) HAPPY crowd. I had noticed that the only
sort of police
presence was a solitary security guard who was standing
nervously in front
of his security car, which was essentially a security
Chevette. After about
45 minutes of revelry in the square however, the real police
arrived and
headed slowly through the crowd. They reached the centre of
the activity
and pulled a couple of people away toward the cars. The
crowd booed, in a
cheerful way and yelled 'fascists! fascists!', which I think
is French for
'aw, come on'.
The response of the police was to shoot tear gas pucks and
these other
things that spit out sparks in a particular way that makes
people very
afraid. Only, they shot the tear gas over the heads of the
shouting people
and into the crowds of people who were still laughing and
drumming and not
really paying much attention to the police. The effect was
to a bunch of
drunken, startled, and subsequently angry people. Bottles
were thrown.
More tear gas and sparky things. Until eventually the crowd
left. I
haven't yet figured out why the tear gas and sparky things
were deployed. I
headed back to the hostel to read my book.
Setting the controls for the heart of the sun,
jay