Bordeaux and Palmiers

I absolutely love cultural festivals, as you can probably tell from the way I described all of the ones we went to this summer in Paziols. I love to learn things about other cultures, but I especially love the way that cultural festivals are laid out, with booths devoted to different aspects of the culture. There’s something so satisfying about even an attempt at categorizing an entire part of some group’s culture and values small subsects that can be displayed at booths so that everyone can come and see and learn. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to attend a cultural festival about my own New Yorker-Catholic school upbringing… but I can’t see how that would be nearly as interesting to anyone else as the sorts of festivals I’ve seen, like the Fête des Abricots or the Fête du Vin in Tuchan.

My favorite one of all, though, is the fête des vendanges de Montmarte, which happens every year in October. I went last year, and I absolutely loved it. Last year, I only went one day, and I wandered around the “village” that was set up, where vendors from different parts of France could sell wine and products from their region. That part of the festival is still happening, but it’s this weekend. However, this year the festival is lasting a whole week, and Alex and I attended the opening ceremonies on Monday.

Last year’s theme was Georges Brassens. It was fine, but this year’s theme appealed to me even more: Montmarte fête son cinéma… Montmartre celebrates its cinema. Monday we went to a sort of variety show near Pigalle that headlined the cult film Fantômas as its main attraction, but actually consisted of more than three hours of performers including a juggler, bands such as the Fatal Picards and Pigalle and even a group that lipsynched and danced to an assortment of songs. The entire show was meant to be a tribute to the Gaumont Palace, and they also screened several films that took place around this area from the early 1900s and the very first days of cinema.

My parents are coming this weekend, and I don’t know how keen they are on checking out some of the other bits of this festival, but I know that if I had more time on my hands (i.e., if I hadn’t had to work at 8 this morning or stay in class until 9:30 tonight), I would definitely be going to everything offered. I hope I at least get a chance to see some of the things that are going on this weekend!

If you’re in Paris this week, you should definitely check out this festival… it’s an amazing experience to not only soak up French and Parisian culture, but the culture that is so specific to one of my favorite areas of Paris: Montmartre.

The Official Program:

http://www.fetedesvendangesdemontmartre.com/programme.html 

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