Scattered showers

From Lescun, we set off to Marciac, an event we've been looking forward to for months. It's the 40th edition of the famous jazz festival; in normal times the village has a population of just over 1,000, but for the three weeks of the festival it's multiplied ten times over. The whole of the large central square is filled with a stage, rows of seats, and dozens of bar and restaurant terraces filling every inch of available space. The official concerts take place in a massive marquee (seats about 5,000) on the rugby pitch and in a new, purpose-built concert hall.

Unfortunately the weather was diabolical. There were sunny intervals, but by and large it was overcast and windy, with occasional showers, making the option of strolling around the streets less desirable. We took the opportunity to visit the audio-visual jazz museum, which was surprisingly good, and then paused for a coffee in the square. Seeing black clouds coming over we headed swiftly to the car -- but not swiftly enough. The heavens opened with 100 metres to go and we were soaked to the skin within seconds. 

When I left home it had been hot and sunny, so I hadn't really thought about warm clothes. Luckily as a last-minute afterthought I'd tossed a fleece and an umbrella into the car. But in order to have enough warm clothes for the evening, when we got to our B&B I had to do some emergency clothes drying with the hairdryer.

In the evening we had a pleasant meal in one of the many pop-up restaurants and then went to the concert hall. The first half, a quartet led by drummer Jae Sinnett, left us distinctly underwhelmed, but luckily Chano Dominguez was more to our taste. Returning to the car park we found a sea of churned-up mud and many spinning wheels, but managed to skate over it to the exit. The real treat is lined up for tomorrow ...