partying and holidays - les fêtes et les vacances
Like all French people, the Landais make the most of their holidays,
whether national holidays or vacations from work and school. The Landais
are particularly keen on communal events, with even the smallest village
having its summer Fête, and often further events are organised
- festivals, fairs, feasts, competitions of all sorts. Included with
the fêtes will be music, often provided by a local banda
or harmonie - brass bands. The summer season, from late June
through to early September, from near the end of the school year until
the Rentrée, is one long party!
The waiter’s race at the summer fêtes
of a seaside resort with many cafés |
Beret-throwing,
with fête-uniformed locals
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feasting
All fetes and fairs include feasting. Communal repasts are much
enjoyed in Les Landes, whether it is the Paschal Omelette [Omelette
de Pâques] that is usually cooked on Easter Monday, a
bogéda, a sardinade,
or a stall cooking burgers and chips [les frites]. These
last are sometimes combined in a baguette to become the gourmand’s
gastronomic monstrosity that is called an Américan!
During the summer, eating is done outdoors in the warmth of the
evening with the smoke from the barbeque grills spiraling skywards,
while a disco or plays recent and past French pop and disco anthems,
as well as old favourites, in the background.
The local cafés also provide outdoor eating; there, the
diners are often entertained by local bands and singers.
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fêtes
costume
As you may have noticed in the beret-throwing illustration above right,
fêtes are often marked by the organisers and many of the participants
dressing in a widespread local uniform. White tops and bottoms (whether
shirt, blouse, t-shirt, trousers,skirt or dress) are completed by contrasting
neck-scarf, waist sash and even a beret, all in red or possibly another
strong colour, such as blue, green or yellow (the colour may be that
of the local rugby or soccer team strip). This dressing for the occasion
is particularly marked for the, often week-long, events involving bulls
and cows. The nearby grand surfaces (large supermarkets) will
sell all the necessary components of the uniform from three or so weeks
before the local festival or fêtes. A complete outfit can cost
about 15 to 20 euro [2007].
torros, corridas and cow-jumping
Almost
every medium and large town in the southern parts of Les Landes has
an arène, an arena used primarily for entertainments
and sports with cows or bulls, though also used to hold other events
such as folk dance and music displays. [Map
and list of 179 arènes.]
Tauromachie - bull-fighting - is a well-established enthusiasm
in southern France, as well as in Spain, although this is often not
to the taste of the more urbain Anglo-Saxon. Tauromachie includes
the “It’s
a knockout”-type games that include heifers as part of the
moving obstacles and challenges.
But
in Les Landes, although there are some week-long corridas [bullfights]
of red-blooded (and bloody) bull-fighting, there is also the much more
civilised (to our minds) sport - the Course Landaise. Mind you, sometimes
you can find a corrida portugaise [Portugeuse bullfight] where
the animals are not killed, at least not in public view.
In the Course Landaise, both the animals and the human participants,
the toreros, are awarded points for their prowess in their particular
roles. The goal is for the écarteurs [swervers] and the
sauteurs [jumpers] to provoke a semi-wild small cow, the coursière,
to charge and, at the last, moment to avoid being gored by either swerving
away from the animal, or by jumping over it, often in spectacular fashion.
A thin rope (corde) is tied to the animal’s head, enabling
the cordier to both direct the animal’s rush to charge
their provoker and to protect the sauteur, if necessary.
Points are awarded to the écarteurs and sauteurs,
according to the riskiness of the manoeuvre, and the skill and elegance
with which it was performed. The most points are received for the jump
where the feet are enclosed in a beret [a red beret in the photo to
the right] and the legs tied about the knees. [This
linked page has links to short videos
of all the main jumping and swerving manoeuvres.] The cow (or rather
its breeder) is awarded points for ferocity.
Course Landaise, from the beginning of the
20th century
a short history of the Course Landaise
The Course Landaise certainly has many similarities to the sport of jumping
over bulls practised in ancient Crete. However, it looks probable that
the men of Les Landes came to their sport from a different route.
The earliest written mention of the Course Landaise was in the 15th
century. In those days, the animals were let run through the streets,
the objective being to run with the cows or bulls and get close enough
to touch one without being knocked over. From this behaviour, racing
the animals, comes the name Course, la course meaning ‘the
race’ in French. These street runs continue in Spanish towns,
the one at Pamplone in North Spain being known for its ferocity, while
bulls are still run, at least, at Bayonne in France.
During
the 19th century, there were two events that changed the Course Landaise
to become the sport of today. Firstly, came the regulation that the
Courses only be held in enclosed, terraced arenas. From this limitation
of space was born, first the swerve and then the jump, the two main
artistic and athletic moves.
Secondly, in 1853, Spanish cows and bulls were introduced. These turned
out to be better suited to this sport than the local Landais animals.
At the end of the 19th century, rubber buttons put on the end of the
horns became obligatory, while the rope and the rope holder appeared
soon after. To complete the picture of Course Landaise as it is known
today, the toreros adopted the dress they still wear today:
white trousers, a tie, a wide sash as used to be worn for Sunday best,
and a coloured short jacket or bolero, with gold or silver sequins -
similar to that worn as part of a bullfighter’s suit of lights.
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