costumes - Frenchless in France

Parade

Every year there is a parade in Montmartre celebrating wine. Mostly there are groups of people in the wine producing region of France but there are also other things as well.

I’m not sure what group they are with but I see them each year. Their costumes sort of have a middle eastern feel to me.

Several of these tall puppets too.

Nothing to do with wine but the men sure did like watching her dance to the drums behind her.

This is the year of the pig for the Chinese New Year. I am a Rat according to the year I was born. Those born in the Year of the Pig are said to have good personalities. This Sunday was a parade in the Chinese district of Paris, the 13th, so I went as I do every year I am in Paris. I should have gone thirty minutes earlier than I did because there were so many people that it was hard to get photos. Still, it was fun and it was a beautiful day to be out.

This guy is there every year. At least, I think it’s the same one.

One of the people who will be one of those energetic dragons. They all seem to belong to clubs and wore special jackets.

There were a couple of altars for lighting an incense stick. The lady on the right was very bossy and kept children from getting too close.

The guys operating this dragon were really good. A video of them below.

San Francisco

While in Oakland, we made the trip into San Francisco. Maurice’s grand daughter is going to school there.

School children were everywhere going trick or treat at businesses lining the streets.

Pretty trees in front of a pretty church.

This has been there for years. It refers to garlic and everything on the menu has garlic in it. I never ate there.

An impressive painting on the side of a building.

This beautiful building looks like it is falling apart up close, maybe even deserted. I hope it isn’t torn down for something more modern.

Modern, well known architecture that was once not liked but is now a well known symbol of San Francisco.

Halloween

After our visit to Canada, which we really loved, we headed to the States, first to Dallas then to Oakland to see children and grandchildren and finally to see my Mom in Arizona.

Seen in Dallas. I’m so glad I was in the States during Halloween to see decorations and grandkids in costumes. In France, it’s All Saint’s Day, a religious holiday.

Evin, my grandson in Dallas, going to college dressed up as a cowboy for a party.

The beautiful hallway at the Oakland airport.

One grandson was a pig in a top hat. He wore a suit on Halloween.

The hat was a tad large on my youngest grandson.

This grandson dressed up as the invisible man.

At 5 PM, the youngest grandson, dressed as Dracula with plastic teeth couldn’t wait any more to get out and going trick or treating so I went with him. A lot of people either weren’t home or not ready but got quite a bit of a haul.

Persimmon seen in it’s autumnal glory.

The Beginning

We got invited by a friend to join her and her boyfriend in the Cotswolds. I’ve been there before and stayed in the same wonderful apartment so I was very willing to return again. We were going to join them at the apartment but at the last minute she wrote to join them to watch some Morris dancers at a pub. I’ve never seen any before, and I’m not sure I’ve even heard of them. They are a group with ancient beginnings doing dances that are based on rhythmic stepping and the execution of choreographed figures, usually wearing bell pads on their shins. The group we saw used scarves in some dances, sticks in others. They were all older men, most with long grey hair and beards and one man said he had been doing it for over 50 years. It looked like a fun man’s club. Afterwards they played a bit of music and sang.

Tradition costumes with scarves. Some of the dances were based on historical events.

This guy was having a good time.

Two of the musicians. The tattered coat has some meaning too.

A “horse” came out at one point too.

I like to try ploughman’s platters at various pubs. This one was pretty good.

A Palazzo on the Grand Canal

The Grand Hotel of Venice is lined with huge mansions and you would love to see inside. With some of them this is possible as they have been made into museums. We visited one called Ca’Rezzonica and it was gorgeous as expected.

There were elegant stairs to the main level.

Sumptuous decorations although not much furniture remained. There were some chairs carved by a famous artist with slaves from Africa carved on the legs.

A red velvet throne against a red velvet wall should a Pope or royalty arrive. One of the Rezzonica family was in fact a pope.

I saw these two girls alone in one of rooms looking like it might have in the past.

I love this painting showing a couple ready for Carnival.

A view of a canal below from the third floor.