‘Fêtes franco-écossaises d’Aubigny’ AKA The Scottish Festival…

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Culture, France, French, funny, History, Humor, Humour, photography, Photos, Scotland, Scottish

Each year my village celebrates the ‘Auld Alliance’ that exists between Scotland and France. We are the last village in the country to keep this tradition going – I don’t know why the other slackers dropped out, maybe they fell out with Scotland?

So each year hordes of Scottish people (usually around 30, does that constitute a horde?) and various people from across the globe descend on our sleepy village to make a lot of noise to commemorate this historic link. The festival runs for three days and three nights, starting on the Friday and finishing up on the Sunday.

There are a variety of activities that go on – traditional methods of making shoes, tools and armour are displayed. Feats of strength such as caber tossing and wrestling sit alongside sword-fighting and archery displays.

There were even dogs pulling barrels full of booze this year.

I did not ask if the dogs drank any of it, this is France so they probably did though.

I always take loads of pictures, and that’s what this blog will feature. There will be lots of men in kilts, so if you don’t like that I’d stop reading now.

On the plus side though, at least you can’t hear the bagpipes. I could. They are bloody awful things if you ask me.

I kept that to myself though over the course of the festival…

So now you are thinking to yourself ‘Where’s the dog pulling the barrel full of booze? He said there’d be a dog pulling a barrel full of booze, but I didn’t see a dog pulling a barrel full of booze, did you Clive?’ ‘Eh…err, no I didn’t Shirley’.

So just for my imaginary readers Shirley and Clive here is a dog pulling a barrel full of booze:

Ill-Matched Wrestling Matches & A Whole Lot Of Tossing On Day 3 Of Les Fêtes Franco Écossaises in Aubigny Sur Nere..

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Auld Alliance, Culture, Festivals, France, French, Heritage, History, photography, Photos, Pictures, Scotland, Scottish

So we come, at last, to the final day of the festival celebrating the Auld Alliance. As you read this the people who came to entertain and enthral the crowds will be packing up their kilts, deflating their bagpipes and making sure there’s enough fuel in their cars to make the long journey back to Scotland.

 

Except for the people who actually live here that is – they’ll just walk 100 yards to their house.

 

The festival co-coordinators have been lucky in their timing – the weather has been glorious throughout – which has brought the crowds and, crucially, made the crowds thirsty. My plan for next year’s festival is simple – buy lots and lots and lots of alcohol and fizzy pop and then sell it. Then the following year I will be blogging from my yacht.

 

If only.

 

Anyway, enough waffle from me, have a gander at the last lot of photographs…

 

No idea what the sales tactic was here? Perhaps trying to target that Planet Of The Apes/Scottish Highland Fan demographic?

 

Took me right back to Braveheart…’Hold!!!!’

 

There was seldom anyone actually monitoring this stuff, so if someone wanted to flip out – say someone who had two kids and was stressed out on a hot sunny day – then this would be the perfect/worst opportunity to do so.

 

 

These guys were trying to get volunteers to take part in the ancient game of ‘Embarrass yourself in front of your friends by getting them to try to throw a heavy weight over a giant limbo pole, fail miserably and then have to watch you do it expertly while your girlfriend looks on and sighs to herself’

 

It seems ‘almost’ feasible when you look at it…

 

Having said that even the sol called ‘experts’ messed up a few times.

 

 

Having to lower the pole…never a good sign. Still at least you aren’t doing it in front of crowds of people….

 

Pah! He can nearly touch it with his hand now! Amateurs* (*I still didn’t try)

 

Load of Knight Templar chilling out. I don’t know what the plural for a load of Knights Templar is and I’m not googling it either.

 

 

Look at the size of those two dogs! We were told they used to hunt bears, wolves and….

 

ENGLISH MEN!!!! RUN AWAY THEY’VE CAUGHT MY SCENT!!!

 

This looks so authentic, but she was reaching down for her iPhone.

 

First mismatched wresting match – the guy on the right weighed half what the guy on the left did.

 

Now this was clearly only ever going to end one way…

 

Or was it….? (he did actually let the little fellow win)

 

This is a bit more like it…

 

Yep, this one was a very evenly matched….match.

 

This was one of many wrestling matches between the professional Highland Wrestling Team and a group of boy (and girl) scouts who were in the area. No prizes for guessing the outcome here….

 

 

 

 

So, as Porky Pig used to say ‘the the the that’s all folks’ I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at the photographs I’ve taken during the festival. I’ve no doubt that this time next year, when the streets of my village ring out with sounds of bagpipes, I’ll be back to cover it again. Have a good one y’hear ken?

 

BAGPIPES GALORE! On Day 2 Of Les Fêtes Franco Écossaises in Aubigny Sur Nere..

Tags

Culture, France, French, Heritage, History, photography, Scotland, Scottish

 

Do you like bagpipes? They are great at new year aren’t they? Really making ‘Auld Lang Syne’ go with a bang, if you are lucky enough to have them playing live as you see in the next year. The rest of the time though, if I’m being honest, I can take them or leave them. Not much chance of avoiding them today though.

 

My ears still hurt.

 

Anyway feast your eyes, and I will spare your ears, on the pictures I took of the many, many battalions of bagpipe players. It may not be to everyone’s tastes, but there’s no denying that these people are awesome when they gather en-masse…

 

Day 1 Of The Scottish Invasion for Les Fêtes Franco Écossaises in Aubigny Sur Nere..

Tags

Culture, France, French, photography, Scotland, Scottish

 

So for those who don’t know my village is twinned with a Scottish town called Haddington. This is to celebrate the ‘Auld Alliance’ between France and Scotland, and to further celebrate this every year, for three days, the Scottish descend upon our little village.

 

For more background click here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auld_Alliance

 

I will be blogging about this over the next three days, with each blog mainly comprising of photographs.

 

I hope you enjoy them…