We wanted to continue to welcome you to our new blog and
introduce you a little bit more to the culture here in France. We thought we would begin by
introducing you to our neighbor down the street.
Living in the south of France brings to the forefront a
totally different culture than what we grew up with in the US. Growing up in NY, our neighbor’s cows
were raised for one purpose alone & that was to give milk. They were the traditional black &
white version that lazily chewed its cud in the pasture & provided milk to
the vendor.
However, here in our area, one will find primarily only
black bulls or “les taureaux de Camargue” which are used for bullfighting, various games in
the local arenas & yes, the “running of the bulls” through the street each year. Each summer, the area villages are filled
with banditos, white Camargue horses being ridden by ranch cowboys, local young
men desiring to run in the streets with the bulls, as well as, plenty of
tourists to watch the festivities.
The air is always filled with excitement as the bulls and the mounted riders
race through the streets. It takes
quite a lot of convincing sometimes to hold John back from participating in
some of these “manly” pursuits!
The first summer we were here, we attended the bull games in
our village arena. We watched as
the young men challenged the bulls & the bulls proceeded to challenge
them. After my first initial quiet
rant of “where is this kid’s mother, that she would allow her 14 year old in
the ring with a 1,000 pound bull,” I settled back into the realization that
this was part of the culture. This
is what they have done for centuries … and it works. They do not need someone to remind them of all the
statistics for serious bodily harm!
So, now each summer we attend the festivities along with the
other villagers. I still wince and
stifle a yelp of concern for possible victims, but in the end, we enjoy watching
& cheering these age-old traditions still found here in the south.
