‘Carnaval’ Comes to Country

We were minding our own business last Sunday, lunching at a little French restaurant in the nice town of Givry.  Then the nearly naked Brazilians arrived…

Here is a delightful thing about Sunday lunch in Burgundy, which is the big social event of the week.  It is not out of the ordinary when something exceptional happens. 

In this charming market town, there were 11 of us, having Sunday lunch at one of those traditional French restaurants, where the wine is good, the owners are friendly and teasing, and the meals are la cuisine de grand-mere, good home cooking. 

It was the week of the vendange, or the grape harvest, and we began chatting with Monsieur at the next table, who turned out to be the vigneron who made the very wine we were drinking.  He was celebrating with his family, as he had just completed the strenuous vendange on his 11 hectares of grapes.

Suddenly we heard a great commotion in front of the restaurant, and we popped outside.  A group of dancers were in the street, twirling and whirling in old French ball gowns, the men in top hats.  “What’s going on?”, we asked.  “It’s the parade for Givry’s annual Fête des Vignes, the Festival of the Vines”, someone told us.  All the women at our table grabbed their cameras and went out to watch the fun, while the guys stayed and sipped their wine, content to look out the windows.  

The dancers were followed by a group of pom-pom girls all tricked out in Irish costumes.  Then a rather scary looking drummer group, playing ‘diabolik musik’, per their banner.  Next up, a quaint geriatric ensemble dressed in old-time French farm costumes, who paused to do a little country two-step for the crowd.  Followed, most incongruously, by a pack of barely-clad Brazilians beauties in feathers, accompanied by a primal drum band, and strutting their stuff in the streets, Carnaval-style. 

Suddenly the guys abandoned their wine and spilled out onto the road, ogling the flirty dancers.  Now where, in this sleepy rural town, did these hot babes come from?  We couldn't quite figure out exactly how they fit in with the wine theme (nor the Irish pom-pom girls, for that matter).  We quizzed some locals, who said the Brazilians lived in the area.

Finally Madame our server appeared at the door.  “à table, les enfants!” she said, hands on her hips and finger wagging.  “Dinner is served, children, come to the table!”  Well, just another Sunday lunch in La Bourgogne.

Photo: Don't miss monsieur's expression. I do believe she has made his day. 

Favorite Reads:  Book lovers please go straightaway to Kelly Kegan's fabulous new blog, Biblio-files, for the love of books. A charming site and lots of good recommendations and reviews.

At the moment I'm reading Noble House, James Clavell's epic novel about Hong Kong and the longest book known to man, so I may be a while with ideas for novels. But if you want to dream a bit about France, a lovely set of books to own are the The Most Beautiful Villages of France series.  There's one for most every region and we've long used them for planning trips around France.

Our Reader's Blogs: Herm in Phoenix, our poet-in-residence, now has a website for his poems! Felicitations, Herm.  Please go to Poems, Photos and Stuff.

And a new iphone/ipad app, by one of our readers!  'Southern Burgundy Explorer' is a travel guide to our region, with lovely photos and inside info on travel, by Jeff Steiner at Americans in France. 

One more travel tip for today:  If by chance you're headed for the Côte d'Azur, you must look at Riviera Experiences—even if just to dream–the website of my good friend Shelley, who lives in Villefranche-sur-Mer.  She has seven villas/apartments to rent there by the week or month, which she has personally renovated and decorated.  They are all tellement jolie, et formidable!

In the Comments this week:  We all scream for ice cream!  Lots of opinions on the best flavors and types and places to indulge.  Merci to Linda and Lillie for reminding us about Berthillon and to Patricia for mentioning Amorino, which I love.  Ido even has an idea for making a cone holder–and for avocado ice cream. Frank and Linda, y'all are in trouble with Ron for adding new things to my already bulging suitcase.

Unless otherwise attributed, all POSTS, PHOTOS and RECIPES on this blog copyright ©2011 Lynn McBride.  All Rights Reserved.