24 - 27 May - The Cherry festival

It goes without saying that Friday was always going to be a somewhat quieter day after our big hike the day before. We still managed our usual hour's walk though. Later in the day we spent a fair amount of time trying to plan our trip up north for when we are renting out our apartment from 12 July - 12 Aug. We ended up at a large table of friends at Bar Pablo supping on wine and conversing until well into the evening.

The weekend held one of the three major festivals in Ceret's calendar - the Cherry Festival. This is why we try to arrive by the middle of May. The whole town has a party. All the shops display cherry-based products in their windows, e.g. decorated pottery, cherry-patterned tablecloths, cherry beer, cherry flans, in fact anything that can have a cherry component. The normal market stalls move off the main streets to allow for cherry stalls to line up one after another. The number of kilos of cherries that are sold over the weekend must be fantastic. Everyone seems to walk around with trays of them, usually eating as they go.

The square below our apartment packed with diners.

Cherry stalls lining the main street

Cherries galore

Some tasty-looking fougasse, with peppers, anchovies and a topknot olive

Apart from the cherry-spitting and cherry de-pipping competitions, the main attractions are the bands. Six had travelled here to perform, two from as far as Basque Country. All the band members clearly have a ball, and the bands circulate around the streets in the town, for hours on end. Meanwhile the town is packed with thousands of visitors, lapping up the entertainment and enjoying food and wine at all the cafes and restaurants. 

One of the bands

Every year an outdoor meal plus entertainment is organised for Saturday evening. For 20E they provide a 3-course meal, complete with wine and water, and the bands take turns revving up the 500ish people who sit down for the meal at 8pm. We had reserved a table for 18 friends. John and I were at one end, and had a great time talking with two French couples sitting next to us. The men were both retired policemen from Paris - only 59 years old and looking very fit. It was their first time to the Ceret festival, having recently moved to live in the south of France. Most of our group (the women at least) were up dancing all night and of course I had to maintain my reputation of dancing on the chair. I wasn't alone I must add. The night was full of fun and laughter, with all the French really embracing the French songs being played. Crocodile lines around the tables gained great favour. An older Irish friend of ours, widowed a few years ago and just starting to try some social events, had asked if she could join us. She must be around 80 and ended up dancing with the best of them. She loved it and it was great to see her having such a good time.

John was impressed with the wildlife in his seafood paella

Some of our table

Video of the music

Even though it was Mother's Day in France on Sunday, I was up out of bed at a respectable hour, though John had been up earlier and bought some pastry treats for me. After our usual walk we settled in at Bar Pablo for an hour and soaked up the atmosphere all over again. The bands were back on deck, only calling it a wrap at 1:30pm. It was properly enjoyable sitting back and people-watching, trying to pick the difference between French people and 'foreigners', and trying to get the measure of what the French culture is all about. It's fairly obvious that many of the English here mix only with other English. Plenty don't come out to sit and enjoy the festivities, preferring not to have to deal with busy market crowds, hear the admittedly sometimes raucous bands or watch unusual cultural activities.

This afternoon the Catalan tradition of  'castle-building' was again on display. Layers of people stand on each others shoulders, with the smallest child climbing up perhaps 4 layers. It's quite a feat, with the men and women on the lower layer visibly shaking under the strain.

The Castellers (castle makers)

While sitting out having a coffee or beer over the last few days we've been really chuffed with bumping into French people we know. Our builder came over and gave us a big hug and kiss. An electrician who did a bit of work for us also gave us a good welcome. One of our neighbours from our first apartment gave us a hug, and there were others. This is one of the things we are enjoying more and more about being here. We are having lunch tomorrow with a Swedish and Norwegian couple and Mats has already invited us to a big Scandinavian get-together that is being planned. We have friends from Oslo who will be arriving soon, and also our Romanian friend. 

Apero was on the cards this afternoon with the couple from Luxembourg who will be renting our apartment here from October - February next year, but unfortunately Daniele wasn't feeling well so we've had to postpone it. They sound lovely and we are very keen to meet up.