fireworks Archives - A Wanderful Life

The 4 day summer music festival in St. Girons, France has just come to an end and I shall certainly miss the level of activity in town.

Oh wait — ANOTHER TWO multi-day festivals begin this coming weekend!

I’m not quite sure what the next event had to do with this past weekend’s music festival, but it was certainly listed on the official schedule. The petanque tournament was on a very hot and sunny Monday afternoon and when I arrived, I was quite surprised to see about 100 men of all ages participating in what was clearly a multi-generational event.

Men of all ages playing petanque in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

A tired-looking referee paced up and down the gravel trying to keep an attentive eye on the multiple competition teams that were all playing at the same time.

The referee in a striped shirt tried to manage the multiple petanque games which were all played at the same time in St. Girons, France.

And there were the occasional ‘debates’ about the just-completed toss.

A friendly discussion about a just completed game of petanque in St. Girons, Midi-Pyrenees, France

As I passed the old riverside chateau, the Palais des Viscomtes, I could see that the scaffolding crew were busy disassembling the large framework that had supported the lights, speakers, and cameras during the weekend music festival.

Workers removing the scaffolding used for lights, speakers, & cameras at a music festival in St. Girons, France

The concluding event was a fireworks display to be set off from the gardens of the old chateau which are just a few blocks from our apartment here in St. Girons. We had been rather disappointed at the level of fireworks on Bastille Day, so we didn’t walk down to the park for the fireworks which were meant to start at 10:30 PM. But at 11:00 PM, the sky erupted and the fireworks went on for at least 20-30 minutes. It was immediately clear that the festival committee had splashed out with the fireworks budget because what we were seeing was nothing like the subdued pop-pop-pop of the Bastille Day fireworks.

Fireworks in St. Girons, France

They were splendid! And we had a wonderful view from the balcony of our apartment. I probably got much clearer photographs from that elevated position than I would have from a standing position under the trees of the chateau’s garden.

Fireworks in St. Girons, France

The flight was long, the seats were cramped, our bodies were aching. But we arrived in Amsterdam at 6 AM on New Year’s Eve, made our way to the apartment we had rented, and crashed into deep sleep.

A mere few days before we left Sydney, one of my Twitter friends, Krista Bjorn – @ramblingtart, had warned me that Amsterdam was going to be quite loud at New Year’s Eve. But I didn’t fully comprehend just how loud!

Somehow I slept through the folks that jumped the gun in the afternoon and Mark assured me that it sounded like cannon-fire all over our neighbourhood from noon onward. Over 20 hours of flying will do that to you — just knock you flat. My consciousness should probably still be somewhere over China or Russia today and working its way slowly west to Amsterdam.

We traded places and Mark fell asleep at 8 PM while I sat here with the computer and held my breath as the streets outside sounded like we were living in the middle of a battlefield. It was quite unnerving! He got up at midnight when the sound level, believe it or not, escalated. Putting our heavy winter coats on, we walked outside and a few metres away to the end of our block, stood there a bit awestruck, and watched explosion after explosion going off above the canal right in front of us. The sheer amount of fireworks is like nothing we have ever seen and the stunning aspect for us was that these were all privately purchased ones. Fireworks are sold quite openly and it’s almost as if there is a street by street competition to see who can make the most noise and light up the sky most brightly. Eerie!!!

The following morning, we emerged from the apartment to see the streets and pavements layered with discarded wrappings and tubes of fireworks. They were so thick on some streets that you shuffled through them, the sound against your shoes like the sound of fallen leaves in the autumn. The bricks of the pavement were stained in some places with the orange and red colours of the dry residue.

Fireworks wrappers after New Year's Eve in Amsterdam

Sporadic explosions continued well into the cold but sunny daylight hours of New Year’s Day as people walked around in a low-key manner, picking their way carefully through the discarded champagne, wine, and beer bottles. There was no sensation of hurry or rushing in the air.

With a mere 6 hours of sleep apiece, we decided to go out for several hours. Our faces are looking a bit battered and exhausted, but we have begun our explorations of this truly beautiful city. Come back soon for more adventures in Amsterdam!

Mark checking map in Amsterdam

Deborah taking photos alongside Prinsengracht Canal in Amsterdam

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Tag Archives: fireworks

Farewell To The Festival

New Year in Amsterdam Sounds Like A Battlefield