Thursday, April 12, 2012

Garrigue en Fête at Pont du Gard

Wow, how fast has this week gone? I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

On Easter Sunday we headed west to the Pont du Gard, where Aidan had invited us to join in the festivities at the Garrigue en Fête.

La Garrigue is the scrubland that exists on the limestone coastlands of the Mediterranean. It has its own particular plants and animals, which this fête celebrated. As an Australian, La Garrigue reminds me of the bush - that mainly dry, low-lying-scrub-with-a-few-trees kind of environment.

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La Garrigue with an old aqueduct thrown in for good measure.

We should start with the food, oui?

Aidan ordered us picnic paniers which included all the goodies below:

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water, baguette, duck terrine, nougat, salad, onion confit and cheese

As well as a grilled-on-the-spot duck or pork sausage and two cups of wine.

This cheese with the onion/balsamic vinegar confit was pretty darn tasty.

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After lunch we took a wander around the river's left bank visiting the various animations set up for entertainment.

This merry-go-round constructed mainly from drift wood had a macabre steampunky vibe going on which surprisingly did nothing to deter the kids.

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Two adults from the audience had to power it by bouncing up and down on the see-saw:

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While the keeper of the merry-go-round played tunes (Aidan was chuffed when he played Riders on the Storm.)

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Horse-drawn carriages took folks on a 10 minute tour of the area for free. I think the best part for the 7 year old was when the horse pooped mid ride. Sheesh, boys.

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Isn't the motion and sound of a horse-drawn carriage so soothing? I don't know how all those early pioneers managed to stay awake.

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This flamboyant fellow in his birdcage created hairdos for passersby.

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Here's the after shot - there was a lot of teasing and hairspray involved so I'm sure she had a good time undoing it all that night.

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The petting zoo had goats and sheep and this sweet little spring lamb:

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From the where do people think these things up? files were these two ladies in stroller baby costumes. They'd obviously spent a great deal of time around babies as they had the mannerisms and tantrums down pat - very funny. Well, our 2 year old thought they were hilarious.

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Of course it was only a matter of time before someone offered the baby a beer:

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Into which she carefully dunked her dummy (pacifier):

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Mmmm, beer.

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The majority of the day was spent enjoying the meal, music and animations, although we did manage a quick walk over to the bridge.

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The view:

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In other news, I've finally finished Flocking Chevrons and hope to show it to you tomorrow, photos willing.

And check this out - Kim made a camouflage version of the Modern Chevron Quilt. How cool is that?

Hope you're all having a great week; see you soon!

11 comments:

deedee said...

That hair-do is amazing!

Susan said...

Ah memories of Pont du Gard in July! ( Gosh, it was hot that day! ) What a weird bunch of people you hang out with Kirsty!!! I don't think I could have passed up the nougat BTW!

Salley said...

Too much Kirsty! my sides are HURTING!
Those funny frogs... no Easter Bunny..but plenty of other fantasy..

Unknown said...

What a wonderful and whimsical fete! Thank you so much for sharing. The camo version is fabulous. I love that quilt.

Delana@dujour said...

Just a warning Kirsty. My boys are well into adulthood and they still find poop (or anything relating to their butts) funny. Love the carousel. Love it. And the baby costumes. So funny.

Sarah - Red Gingham said...

Oh my, what a funny fete! Love the wooden horses very much, very rustic. Beautiful that the music for the merry go round is live. What a fabulous day out. LOVE the nougat, did you? The bridge photo was the best for me. I must have a serious thing for bridges. The French ones seem particulary beautiful. Have a great day!

Poppyprint said...

That looks like the wackiest fair EVER! Oh, those freaky grown up babies!
I'm sad that we missed Pond du Gard. Even though we drove right by, we were 3 hours late to check into the house in Menerbes and just didn't make it back that way. Next time.

Eva said...

Wow! That sounds amazing, so many strange and wonderful things! And congratulations on finishing the quilt!!! :-)

Anonymous said...

This was a dream of my father to still make a visit to the Pont du Gard and since he cannot drive any longer, he took the opportunity of my visit to France last August for me to drive him and my mom there. It was a fantastic visit because it brought much joy to my parents and it was quite interesting for me too, but I sure would have liked to encounter all the fun stuff your family was treated to over Easter.
Thanks for another memory,
Annick

Sara Louise said...

This looks like it was fun! Even if the carousel kind of creeps me out :)

Margaret said...

It's all so amazing! Thank you for sharing. : )

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