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
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