Talbert Pipes Life in France Adventures Halloween in Herbignac Halloween in Herbignac One of our disappointments last year was the lack of trick-or-treaters here - we had candy and decorated the shop and yard, but didn't have a single visitor. Now that we've been here for a year, we've learned the differences in Halloween here, and found that all the action is in the center of the village. Warning - LOTS of pictures, LONG download! Note: All pictures shown were taken with the express permission of the goblins involved. For a nice video slideshow of these pics and more, click the pumpkin! By sheer chance, last year I walked into town and got a glimpse of the latter stages of the downtown Halloween fun, so we made a point to go there this year. It seems to be mainly focused in the cluster of small shops there, with trick-or-treaters running from shop to shop for bon-bons. All the activity seemed to be between 6 and 7:30, when the shops closed and the costumed beasties went home en masse. These folks were the most impressive group we encountered - a whole family who had arrived downtown to rampage and pillage. These four witches were fluttering and lurking around the cathedral entrance, occasionally flying up to lurk among the gargoyles... We were dressed up also, bien sur! My wife dresses as a witch every year... is she trying to tell me something? We were invited to a dinner with our friend Claudie Boceno later that evening, and at her home we encountered this mysterious being. It was a menacing creature, but fortunately it had a fondness for Playstation... A nice shot of Claudie and her family, daughter Camille, son Paul-Jakez, and cat Venus. I must say that Claudie is an exceptional cook - dinner was delicious - and her daughter's apple pie dessert was equally terrific.