Every year right after the
quatorze juillet, our little village holds its annual festival. It's called
la fête des lumas, or the snail festival, and it was held this past Sunday. Now I now all you
francophiles out there are saying, "but wait, I thought snail was
escargot in French."
Part of the flea market that is the core of the snail festival.
You are right, of course.
Lumas is a specific species of snail also called the
petit gris de Poitou, not to be confused with the classic
escargot de Bourgogne. I believe they are both edible. I also believe that it would be difficult to tell the two apart once prepared in the traditional Burgundian style with garlic, butter, and parsely.
Shopping for used vintage clothing.
I have no idea why our village has a snail festival. I've never heard of snails in town except for this festival, and the ones we find in the garden. I suppose one day I'll ask somebody, but it's not a high priority.
Workers setting up the stage and dance floor,
picnic tables and food tents.
Anyway, the festival is mostly a big
brocante, or flea market, all day long. There is food and drink available, and a dance floor and stage are built for the evening entertainment. This year's entertainment was a band called Get Back that does Beatles songs and a guy who sang Claude François songs.
The festival takes place adjacent to the village campground, which happens to be on the river in the center of town.
Ken and I didn't go for food or entertainment. We went around eleven a.m. just to wander around and have a look at all the junk for sale. And to be seen by our fellow villagers (we don't go out much). As it happened, we only saw one person we know, and he didn't even notice us. On our way back home, however, we ran into one of our neighbors (who happens to be the mayor) and her husband. So we had a nice chat, and scored points for showing up at a local event.
The river Cher passes the center of town.
As I lay in bed that night, I could hear some very familiar tunes wafting up from the valley below. Get back, Jojo.