The day of the bulls in my village.

Today they were running the bulls in my village. I'm not sure what the objective was but I think it was to move the bulls from one end of town to other while generally irritating the bull. There was some stunning horsemanship displayed however.
Some glossary : ABRIVADO is taking to bulls to the arena.
BANDIDO is taking the bulls from the arena (back to pasture.)
ENCIERRO is the time in the arena trying to catch the bulls.

And, yes the bulls live to fight another day.

If you look carefully these kids have a hand full of bull. I would be a bit worried that at one point the bull would say to himself "ya-know what? I don't have to take this."

I was about 6 years old and I yanked a cats tail and received a nasty scratch because of it. Lesson learned: Mammals with tails don't like having them yanked by mammals without tails.

That rule has worked well for me.

The horsemen formed a u-shaped formation around the bull. It reminded me of the president and the secret service. They had long sticks with forked prods on the end to steer the bull. I don't think the secret service uses these. . . .although, they were affective. Maybe they should consider it.

Going home

We are heading back to the States tomorrow for our first trip back in six months. I wanted to leave you with another art shot before I left. I doubt I will be able to post for the next two weeks so I will get back to work when I return.

Sunk Boat

This boats story is almost told. We found it walking along the shore on New Years day. Like the photograph, I had to stare at it that day to discern its outline. Once it presented itself to me I had to ponder it's history. Was it just a fishing boat used by a local man to pull in fish for his supper and perhaps the market. Was it forgotten after his death. Why was it never moved or disposed of. Perhaps it had a more colorful past. Maybe it shuttled some refugees up from Spain during Franco's repressive regime. I don't have the answers. I guess the beginning of a new year and the ending of the last one has made me reflective. Reflection was about all that was left of this old boat.

Christmas Eve

Joyeux Noel everyone. Last night was Christmas eve and we took a walk into town after our traditional fish dinner which my wife did an excellent job on. I brought my camera and tried to do some night shots. This morning (Christmas day) we walked down to church and on the way back we found a market that was open we bought some peppers and clementines and then we found a bakery that was open and we bought a couple of croissants, a baguette and a little buche de noel. It's a traditional Christmas cake shaped like a yule log. It's a beautiful morning here. Merry Christmas everyone.

It's Saturday, time for a walk.

We try and walk every day we can. My wife's under the impression that it is somehow good for your health. I would dispute this but she has the worlds doctors and health professionals on her side. Me being out numbered, I walk. Saturday is a great walking day in our village. This picture and the following are the sights of one such Saturday. I hope you enjoy it.

Tower again

This Church tower is the tallest structure in our village. You saw it in the previous post as well as this one. It is difficult to take a landscape shot without including this majestic tower. It begs to be photographed.

A Horse!

South France is horse country. They're all over the place. The climate and terrain is similar to our American west. Its dry and plenty of grasslands to graze in. I don't know much about horses but they all seem generally happy and well adjusted here.

Europeans on bikes

There are also a lot of bikes. Like the horses, the bikes seem happy and well adjusted.

Saturday Market

On our way back we always cut through town. There is this one street that has a Saturday market going on. There are vendors all the way up this street selling all kinds of food.
the produce is very fresh and the breads wines and cheeses are all locally made.
There are :. . . . .

Shrimp and calamari

Assorted sea dishes.

Chicken and stuffed tomatoes

This had a great aroma as you walked by.

Veggies

Very fresh, home grown stuff. ..

Fruits

And the fruit! Oh man. Delicious!

And of course wine

And the local vineyards get into the act.

That's our usual Saturday walk. After walking through the market we usually return home with our hands full of baguettes and whatever else looked good.