Nothing on the telly

... so we went out instead.

On 11 November 2011, we had one of the most amazing theatrical experiences of our lives, with Le Dandy Manchot. So when we heard a couple of months ago that they were doing another ambulant show not too far from us, in Villesèquelande, we put it in our diaries right away. Unfortunately until very recently I had the impression that you could just show up, so we were a bit horrified when S phoned the Mairie last week to find that it was fully booked, with a waiting list. S had to make use of his contacts, successfully thank goodness.

We could have hoped for better weather for an outdoor event on 1 June. We've been anxiously consulting the weather forecast all week, and on the way there we had to make a detour due to a road closed by flooding. But although it wasn't a beautiful day, it stayed dry, with just a few drops of rain at one point, and we were well equipped. A stroll in the south of France on 1 June in walking boots, jumpers, fleeces ...

Antoine of le Dandy Manchot is fascinated by trees, and I think all his shows revolve around them. In fact this event shared many elements with 11/11/11, just arranged differently: family history, trees, war, women's lingerie, musicians in trees, acrobats, a wedding ... inevitably it wasn't as wide-ranging, startling or as dramatic as the first time. It still had some wonderful moments though. We walked from Villesèquelande to the Canal du Midi, and at this point a huge restored barge, the Tourmente, joined the show.

In the four hours of the show, I took 360 photos. It's a pity the light was so poor most of the time -- I was struggling with slow shutter speeds and high ISO. But the sun came out just in time for the young couple's wedding night (a bed in a field on the bank of the canal) and for this scene.

The show ended at 9 pm with aperos (of course!) on the bank of the canal, the Tourmente moored alongside. As we stood in the gathering dusk, drinking wine to the sound of accordeon and saxophone and watching the last glimmers of the sun on the water, it seemed like a perfect moment.

PS backblipped and SOOC! I have scores of photos still to sort through, but this one jumped out as my blip.