Fête de la Musique and the village of Epineuil-le-Fleurial

On Saturday June 21, 2014 I attended the Fête de la Musique in the small village I am staying in called Epineuil-le-Fleurial. Epineuil is located in the center of France, like literally in the center of France. If you were to stick your finger in the middle of a map of France, somewhere very close to that finger you will find Epineuil! The fête was set to begin around 9pm. I left early to walk down to the main road where the party was being held. As I walked I decided I would take pictures along the way to give you an idea of what the village is like. There are only about 500 people who live here.

 

This is me, all dolled up, heading to the main street. Okay, not really dolled up but if you put a dress on with a little makeup in a place this small you are pretty dolled up!

 Nice country road isn't it?

 This is a charming decoration in a green belt area on the walk towards the main street.

This is Epineuil's claim to fame. This is the school house featured in a book called Le Grand Meaules by Alain Fournier. The village has a small museum that hosts tours of the school and provides information about the author.

Below is the gate that encloses the school. Notice the flowers to the left of the gate.

 These flowers are a close up picture to the ones shown next to the gate above. You really can not separate any self respecting village, town, or city in France from it's flowers. They really go hand in hand!

 These next two pictures are houses. Notice the tiled roofs and shutters on the windows. Many of the houses in this area started out as farmsteads so often they have a "barn" look to them.

 To the right you have the Marie. This is essentially city hall. The mayor does his mayor work there and if you are married in France your first set of vows must take place in front of the Marie in order to make it legal. Having a church wedding is optional.

 Another house. Again, notice the shutters on the windows, count the doors. Do you think that is one house or two? Notice the brick work on the far right of the photo. Again, all of these elements are typically French.

This is the corner café located, quite nicely, on the corner of the two main roads in the village.

 This picture cracks me up! This is the  only Bar in town and it is conveniently located next to the boulangerie (bread baker).

 This picture allows you to see the actual doors and how close they are. This is important because, go figure, the baker owns the bar. I asked why I had never seen it opened and was told that is because we usually don't head out any place until after lunch. The Bar closes at the same time as the boulangerie because it is owned by the Baker! I asked how they could call themselves a bar whethe only thing they were serving was coffee?! I was then informed there were many a good French person who enjoyed their glass of rosé at 9h30 in the morning! You gotta love the French!!

The picture to the right is the village church. It was constructed early in the 12th century. Again, notice the pretty flowers in the next few photos! Charming aren't they?

This picture to the left is again showing one of the village lanes. This picture was taken after 9pm! Sunset is very late here in June.

 Some signs advertising stuff happening in the village. The one on the right is for the event I attended.

 This is the pay phone in town. It is interesting that it is still here because with the introduction of the cell phone these are harder and harder to find in France (as are those in the US!).

 This particular telephone booth and I have a long history. The first few time I was here I would buy my telephone card and walk to the phone to call home. The phone cards and credit/debit cards here are interesting because they have a chip in them. If you look close enough at the picture above you will see that there is no place to put coins. France has had cards with computer chips for well over a decade. I wonder what is taking the US so long to figure out that technology.

 Found this sign tucked into a random garage. Not sure why it is there.

Above is the patio in front of the only café in the village.

 

 So here is our little Fête de la Musique. The band is a small folk band playing traditional music. They are set up in front of the Museum office so that the people could dance on the patio in front of the office.

Here (above and below) you can see people doing the traditional steps and the sun has set. This picture was taken sometime around 10: 15pm.

 

 

The volunteers who put on the evening also donated desserts to be sold.

 Here is a close up of a rhubarb tart.

Above and below are more pictures and a few videos of the shenanigans. What was fun to watch were the dancers who really knew what they were doing. There were a few couples who were really good and I was told they they belong to a group that does traditional dances. It was neat because often the dances required you to change partners. They were very generous and those who were trying to learn each had the opportunity to dance with a great partner. Great partners always make you feel like a better dancer!

I love this picture! This man was with his daughter and all night long they were practicing their moves! It was so fun to watch them. Eventually they joined in the fun with the others. It was so sweet.