'Carnaval ' in Limoges

Imagine our trepidation.......................we made the decision to leave La Grenerie on a Sunday afternoon....(a rare decision in itself) and travel to Limoges to see the Carnaval.

The only indication that the Carnaval would happen was a tiny poster on the noticeboard of the famous Super U supermarket. This gave us lots to think about......

• would the weather hold out...believe you me, the weather's been bad just lately?
• would' le Carnaval 'live up to the claims on the poster - such as it was - and the promise of 3 uninterrupted hours of procession, music, colour and fun?
• would we make the right decision to travel by train in the vain hope that it would live up to expectation and the roads would be closed - we'd feel pretty stupid if they weren't!!
• would we have sobered up after one of Elaine and Andrew's famous dinner parties the night before ....we have been known to suffer for days!
• we have been caught out before with events in France - I remember us driving for one and a half hours to a well advertised Christmas Fair only to get there and find half a dozen tiny stalls in a school hall.....so you can imagine our concern!

Need we have worried ...................not a bit of it. The whole of Limoges obviously knew about 'le Carnaval' and no sooner had we walked out of the railway station than we were in the thick of it. Hundreds and hundreds of people lined the streets. The parade was just about to start. The sky was blue, the sun shone , the temperature soared and Limoges partied. There is a wonderful naivity about the French when they enjoy themselves. I have rarely seen such good humour, laughter and fun in such a large gathering. Barnsley council would have groaned in horror at the amount of confetti being bought (yes, in big bags) by everybody and, literally, their grandmothers, to throw at the passing procession.

The colours were amazing. The music and dancers were great. The children in all their fancy dress outfits were fabulous. And the only thing I can say in the negative was that the procession probably only lasted one and a half hours. Who cares??? The photographs tell the story far better that words ever could. It's certainly a date for next year's calendar.