There’s no shortage of fêtes and ferias in the south of France in August to keep visitors and locals entertained. With a large percentage of the French on their annual summer hols, joined by sun-seeking tourists from cooler climes, the vast area known as le midi is certainly buzzing. Some of the most popular events held across the south east of France this month are the ferias, free festivals that last up to four days featuring street entertainment, fireworks, music and often a Spanish-style corrida, complete with strutting bullfighters and plenty of olé olé.
There are two types of tauromachie (“the art of the bull”) that play an important part in the culture down Languedoc way. The Iberian-influenced corrida involves a good deal of ceremony and some artful choreography on the part of the matadors, followed by the killing of the unfortunate bull. If you’re keen to witness a corrida first hand, check out the ferias of Nîmes, Béziers or Céret (buy yourself a copy of Le Midi Libre and go to the page dedicated to all things taurine for full details of who’s fighting what, where and when). Can’t quite stomach the full-blooded version? Bull running (la course des taureaux, also known as les courses Camarguaises) is arguably a more humane spectacle. It’s often part of the local village fêtes held here in high summer; local lads and the odd foolhardy tourist display their bravery (or stupidity – you decide) by taunting bulls whose horns are decorated with rosettes and ribbons. It’s rare that anyone gets killed - and certainly not the bulls - though people do tend to get hurt (and some might say they were asking for it). Love it or loathe it, bullfighting is enduringly popular in the south of France, particularly in the Languedoc. The ferias of Nîmes attract aficiandos from all over France and are held to be some of the liveliest, most colourful spectacles you can see here.
I do have to admit to not really liking bull-based sports, though. I went to a course Camarguaise last year to see if I could stomach it, or understand what everyone got so excited about, and I ended up walking out before the end (it just seemed so… beastly, and primitive. I guess it just appeals to the baser instincts in people, Ernest Heminway included). Give me boules over bulls any day. I’m not quite at the pipe and slippers stage just yet, but pétanque (derived from the Provençal “peds tanco” or “feet together”) has a strange hold over me. Once the preserve of old men in berets, I have it on good authority (the website of the Fédération Française de Pétanque et Jeu Provençal, no less – www.ffpjp.fr) that this most French of sports has seen a recent surge in popularity at an international level, and now appeals to men, women and youngsters alike. Invented according to some in France in 1910, pétanque was officially recognised in April 2003 as a high level sport, with a World Championship competition staged in Geneva the same year. Apparently there are some 20 million regular players worldwide, including the Queen Mother of Thailand (bless). Most village fêtes in the Midi include a pétanque or boules tournament; from the start of spring, each weekend sees the locals turning out for the qualifying rounds of a fiercely contested regional competition, and there’s no end of teeth-sucking, head-shaking, Gauloise-puffing and pastis-sipping as the best players defend their titles.
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Barbaric? |
This is nothing compared to the major competitions organised each summer by the leading regional papers, in major towns such as Nîmes, and just across the Languedoc border into the Bouches du Rhône département, Marseille and La Ciotat (allegedly the birthplace of pétanque). Marseille hosts some of the world’s biggest tournaments, with 200 cubic metres of sand spread over the pathways of Parc Borély to create a vast 14 hectare playing space and a crowd of up to 6,000 spectators. However, those in the know consider the pétanque players of La Ciotat to be the crème de la crème, so if you’re in the area this month, stop off and witness their silky skills. Otherwise, make your way to the boulodrome of any village to check out the action, or visit www.boulistenaute.com for a very comprehensive calendar of this year’s events across France. Purists and pedants may enjoy visiting www.petanque.org, where the subtle differences between le jeu provençal (the precurser to pétanque), la boule lyonnaise and other regional variations on a theme are spelled out. As for me, I’m off to polish up my balls.
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