News for December 2006
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December has been an enjoyable and eventful month starting on the 1st with the official opening of the Christmas market in Epinal. A big event was on the 2nd, the festival of St. Nicholas starting at 17.00hrs with Le Banquet des Illumines, it was lovely. Let us explain what happened. People in traditional medieval dress played music and sang whilst children and some adults lit candles in lanterns and attached them to a structure resembling a chandelier. When all of the 200 lanterns were attached the chandelier was raised providing additional lights to the Christmas decorations. Afterwards, whilst the music continued, the 'king and queen', sat at opposite ends of a table covered with a white linen cloth and invited spectators to sit and drink onion soup. We found the whole scene captivating and returned the following Saturday to see a repeat performance and on that occasion were invited to sit at the table and 'take soup'. It was lovely to participate a be part of the atmosphere.
On the 2nd December after the banquet, there was a parade of floats, marching bands, dancers, the whole event took an hour to pass by and it was very animated. This was followed by a spectacular firework display which lasted around 20 minutes and included an illuminated image of St Nicholas coming down from the sky over the Moselle. It is definitely an evening to be remembered.
The following weekend was 'Telethon' when people engage in a variety of activities to raise money for charities. There were stalls along the "Covered Bridge", a main access to cross the Moselle. Firemen were displaying their skills using a very long ladder, people of all ages were running alongside the river and for those who were brave enough it was possible to be harnessed to a metal rope and swing across the Moselle, fun to watch but for this event we remained spectators.
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The Epinal Parade, Christmas Market & Banquet.
Then came our trip to Strasbourg mainly to visit the Christmas Market, we had heard a lot about it. Despite a train strike we did manage to travel by rail but had to change at Nancy rather than travel directly to Strasbourg. It added some time to the journey but we were still there before midday on the Monday. The decorations in the city were beautiful and the market huge. The stalls were situated in various parts of the city and in all there must have been around 150, possibly a conservative estimate. We were there until the Wednesday afternoon and still didn't manage to see everything. The atmosphere was good especially around the cathedral area where we enjoyed a mulled wine. We had no doubt that Christmas was creeping up on us.
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In Epinal, Father Christmas officially arrived on the 15th December and was transported around the town in a horse and carriage. From then on he could be seen regularly around the 'Christmas village' where the stalls for the Christmas market were installed and there was a marquee where there were regular marionette performances. It wasn't unusual to see parties of school children being taken around the market and to see the marionettes. On the 22nd December there was a 'son et lumiere' once again over the Moselle. The fireworks were brilliant and there were also laser lights flashing along the river banks. At one point canoeists who each had a light on their canoes gently worked their way across the and along the river representing a serpent which was part of the story being narrated. Then came arrangements to celebrate New Year.
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Epinal Christmas son et Lumiere
We hired a car which we collected on the morning of the 30th and headed off to join Alain and Suzanne, friends in Moulins. Earlier in the week we had spoken to our Italian friends Marco and Carmen and learned that they were the only people on a boat this winter at Decize where we were moored last winter. That was when we became good friends. As we were so close to Decize we called in to see them on our way to Alain and Suzanne. They gave us a warm welcome and the delight in seeing each other was mutual. It gave us chance to catch up on the season of boating 2006 and for us to see the work done on the boat early October.
New Years Eve, the four of us, Alain, Suzanne and us, went to join other friends in Montlucon to see in the New Year There were nine of us in all and each person took something as a contribution to the meal. We were responsible for cheese, not an arduous task especially with good cheese stalls in the market. We had a tasty meal with dancing, singing and lots of chat and laughter. A good way to welcome 2007. Our journey back to Epinal on the first day of the year went smoothly and we were able to see some of yet another firework display in the town but this time it was at a bit of a distance from the quay of the port. Now we are looking forward to the year ahead and will soon be making plans about the boating season. We would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a very happy and healthy 2007.
