Carnaval
Carnival is a much anticipated event, mainly by the parents of young children. The holiday entails dressing up-in the case of little girls as a princess of some sort, either in pink or purple, parading through the village, and then burning Monsieur or Madame Carnival. This year I didn't want to miss it, so made the trek to Saint Egreve with Zoe, Alex, Vanessa, Simon, and the "little girls" (Ivy, Piper, and Erin) for the festival.
Saint Egreve is a bit more organized than Fontanil and Carnival is serious business. We arrived in time for the face painting (which even the 2.5 year old twins sat through) and then bought some paper cones filled with confetti (which did not actually last through the parade, but quickly ended up on the ground around the salle).
Alex avoided the face painting, but was very content to collect pieces of confetti and offer them up to anyone within earshot, proudly proclaiming "caca." He may have a limited vocabulary, but he has the important words down (mama, papa, caca, ball, and most recently bon-bon).
As for all the other Carnivals, it was raining, but the parade went off as scheduled (apparently for over an hour). Zoe and Ivy lasted one circuit of Rochepleine before Vanessa and I convinced them to take shelter under an awning. Simon and the twins got separated from us and did a much longer loop, steadfastly marching through the rain, following Mme. Carnival.
Due to the cold and wet, we all left before the culmination of the festivities (lighting a smiling Mme. Carnival effigy on fire).
