This morning, The Frenchman woke me up with a kiss. “Did you sleep okay?”
I nodded.
“Did you cough?”
I shook my head.
“Good! Then I have a surprise for you this morning…” He smiled sweetly. “We’re going to a historical faire for the year 1720!”
My throat was a tad sore, but I was still very excited. 1720! Wow! Why did they pick that year? “Because that’s the year when the Plague hit Marseille. And a time when they had a lot of pirates.”
YAY!
That was the name of the gathering, which was located in the port city, La Ciotat, famous for where they filmed the first movie in history. The phrase is French for “Once Upon a Time.” To get in, we had to purchase a “Billet de Santé” to prove we didn’t have The Plague (which was kinda cute). Once we arrived, I felt very much at home: musicians, jugglers, nobility, great garb and food far better than you’ll ever find at any Renn Faire in the U.S. It wasn’t as polished as the now defunct Living History Center faire in the Bay Area, but everyone made a great effort.
The only truly disappointing part was the sword work. They’d set up a rather wretched area full of half-spirited, unskilled young actors with swords and training sticks to run through basic sword moves. They had bad form, no rhythm, no real anything. I wanted badly to jump in and show ’em a thing or two. Alas, there was no steel slinging for me. I left with my heart a bit in my mouth.
Anyway, here are gobs of fun photos with lots more of the day’s story.
After the faire, we then went to the Cliffs of Cassis where I took many, somewhat hazardous photos. But can you blame me?
And then we ate crepes, watched LOST and lived happily ever after.
Dormez bien, tout le monde!
