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.

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:

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

This flamboyant fellow in his birdcage created hairdos for passersby.

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.

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

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.

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

Into which she carefully dunked her dummy (pacifier):

Mmmm, beer.

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

The view:

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!