La Fête de la Musique

France  celebrates the summer solstice by holding La Fête de la Musique in cities, towns and villages all over the country.

In Sainte Foy la Grande they started celebrating last night with bands playing a broad assortment of musical styles in bars and restaurants and DJs on street corners filling the streets with music.

We chose Le Girondin at the end of rue Victor Hugo and sat under the shade trees in front of the restaurant and listened to ‘jazz fusion’ as the sun set on another hot day. There was a simple set menu especially for the night of an amuse bouche with a kir royale, tortilla and salad, entrecôte or viande haché (hamburger) with the best chips I’ve had in a long time, and chocolate ice cream to finish. Naturally, it was all washed down with a constant supply of rosé. We shared our table with a large group of friends and relaxed under a starry sky to the mellow sounds of bluesy jazz. A perfect summer evening.

At midnight, as we walked home through the town we passed hundreds of people, young and old,  locals and tourists alike enjoying pop rock, folk blues, techno, ‘Les Shadows’, and anything else you can think of. It was a late night for this sleepy country town.

Since France was also playing Switzerland in the World Cup it was surprising how many people weren’t glued to their tv screens.

We went to sleep to the ‘thump, thump’ of techno music on the quai across the river.

Bon week-end mes amis