Carnival and a parade!

So this weekend there was a carnival and a parade in my city.  No one seemed to agree what the occasion was- some said it was "Carnivale" others claimed it was in honor of the arrival of spring.  And spring has certainly arrived!  This weekend it was in the 60's with clear blue skies and plenty of warm sunshine.  

On Saturday afternoon I walked down to the center of the city to check out the carnival.  It was a small but well attended event.  There were three rides, two performance areas, and loads of food booths selling snacks as fundraisers for local groups.  I arrived to find the "Appalache 25" of Besançon performing on the main stage.  Dressed in traditional "western" clothes à la United States, they were square-dancing their hearts out to American country music.  I was surprised and delighted by their performance.

At the same time there was also an awesome capoeira performance taking place on the pavement a little ways away.  With drums, music, and chanting, it was a fun and upbeat little show.  Some of their moves are just unbelievable!  

While watching the capoeira, I was taken by the urge to buy a bag of "french churros".  Red flag:  churros may be carnival food but they are not french.  Not even close.  Better to stick to the crêpes from now on if you ask me.  

Today, Sunday, my friends Soka and Christine came over and we all went to the parade together.  It took forEver to arrive and when it did, we could easily tell why.  This was less a parade than a series of mini-performances, for which the whole line stopped every time.  Band after marching band playing a lot of fun, upbeat, but fairly similar stuff would stop to entertain the crowd every half a block or so.  In between bands were some pretty impressive and unusual floats, check out my photos if you'd like to see more.  

One thing I noticed that really bothered me was the silly string.  In french it is "fil serpentine" (snake string).  Walking vendors sold silly string and bags of confetti to the spectators.  This seemed fun and festive until I saw how everyone behaved with the silly string!  They were downright mean.  People participating in the parade who walked by were sprayed right in the face, over and over again!  It was horrible!  Kids and adults sprayed with hateful aim, laughing rudely all the while.  And the poor participants maintained a fixed but pained smile and kept on walking.  It was awful.  I was really disgusted by how they behaved.  

After this spectacle, we all came back to my place and made some microwave popcorn that I had brought with me from the U.S.  What a treat!  It was actually less buttery and greasy than I had remembered, but tasty all the same.  

And finally, we finished the day by going over to Soka's apartment to have coffee and a few treats.  We are always trading chocolates and cookies from our respective countries!  It is so enjoyable to talk with them in French about anything and everything, often comparing "how it's done" where we are from.  Soka and Christine are two of the best things about France, and they aren't even french!  It seems that no matter what I go looking for in a new country or new experience, it is always friendship that I find and cherish the most.