A night at the circus

Actually, two nights. On Friday night we went to see Corps de Bois in Arzens. Arzens is not very close to here -- the other side of Carcassonne. Of course, when I booked it I expected to be able to get there via the autoroute. But the gilets jaunes put paid to that. An hour's drive along dark roads and then a ten-minute blunder round the village looking for the venue. I also hadn't realised that the show was only 45 minutes long ... two hours' driving for 45 minutes of entertainment isn't a very good ratio. You could see why they couldn't do it for longer though -- both gasping for breath when they talked to the audience at the end! See video linked above ...

This evening an easier trip to Lagrasse for the Cirque Sans Nom in a big top. But I had had a day's choir rehearsal first, complete with an hour's drive each way. This was a really original show; going to the circus (the human sort, not the kind exploiting wild animals) is a great way of releasing your inner child. Adults were as spellbound as children at the odd antics onstage, It was a small big top, and at one point a chunky golden horse came trotting through a doorway with a deadpan look on its face, did a tour of the arena, and disappeared again. The show also involved firearms and naked flames in an arena filled with sawdust (two of the performers set themselves on fire). Live music was provided by a man playing drums, saxophone, guitar, violin, kazoo, and something that looked like an oud. Blip: the DJ in the bar before the show -- not possible to take photos in the big top.