Talbert Pipes Life in France Adventures July 14th "INDEPENDENCE DAY AND ALL I REMEMBER WAS A MIDNIGHT RAINBOW THAT FELL FROM THE SKY AS I STAND ON THE BEACH I SLOWLY SURRENDER TO THE CHILD IN ME WHO CAN'T SAY GOOD-BYE THE ROCKETS IN THE AIR AND THE PEOPLE EVERYWHERE PUT AWAY THEIR DIFFERENCES FOR AWHILE OH I AM STILL A CHILD WHEN IT COMES TO SOMETHING WILD THAT WAS THE NIGHT I PAINTED THE SKY OH THE MORTARS THEY ROAR IN ANTICIPATION PRECEDING THE SIGH OF THE UPLIFTED EYES IT SHOWERS US ALL IN SULFURIC SENSATION THE COLORS SHINE IN A FIERY RHYME TONIGHT " -"The Night I Painted the Sky", by Jimmy Buffet, on the Barometer Soup album Fireworks by the lake July 14th in Herbignac Warning - LOTS of pictures, LONG download! France has its own Independance Day which follows just after the US's on July 14th, just as the French Revolution followed the American one. This was our first experience at a July 14th celebration and we were startled as much as anything by how similar it was to an American July 4th celebration - except for the fact that everyone was eating mussels and fries instead of hot dogs, and drinking wine instead of coke, the experiences were virtually identical. French Christmas and French Halloween are very different from the US, so it was fun and nostalgic to encounter a holiday celebration so familiar. This isn't going to be an "adventure" per se, since it's mercifully free of the sort of death-defying escapes and harrowing drama that used to accompany things as simple as a trip to the post office. What follows is mostly just a pictorial story of the show with a few comments here and there. Part of the fun for us was that we had not previously known of the existence of this park, which is right in the middle of Herbignac. It's a large and beautiful location with a big lake and paths ideal for leaisurely strolling. Above is a nice shot of the lake early in the evening, before the sun set and the area was lit by the fireworks display. A large crowd had turned out, and it seemed that half of Herbignac was lounging under the tents eating mussels and fries or playing fairground games. Yes, you can spend lots of money shooting at targets to win giant stuffed animals here too... One thing I thought I'd be missing forever in France was the US fairground scene, with candied apples, cotton candy, cheesy rides, and all that good stuff. Thankfully this has not been the case, and we've already found real full-size fairs to visit here - the only problem is that the French seem to do them in June and July instead of September. Then again, June and July here are similar to September in North Carolina weather-wise, so the "feel" is the same. We find, to our delight, cotton candy in France! I can now verify that cotton candy tastes exactly the same, even across the ocean. Sadly, the locals don't seem to have candied apples or funnel cake, but we found a tasty substitute below- I wish I could remember the name of these things! These seemed to be the French substitute for funnel cake, and they were absolutely delicious. The long bread tubes were squeezed out of a Dr. Seuss machine and buttered and chopped fresh, and covered in powdered sugar. Yum! Once the sun had set, the show began... and what a show it was! We all sat quiet in the darkness, stuffed with sweets and fairground treats, sipping our Breton cider and watching the color explosions over the lake. The following pics are my best attempts to photograph fireworks in the dark (never an easy task, especially for a non-photographer) When all the thunder and fury had climaxed, we joined the mass of people heading home. Again, though, it was different - we walked home instead of driving. I'm continually amazed at both how small Herbignac is and how much goes on here!