Fete Medievales

Yesterday we went to Bayeux for their annual Fete Medievales. This year was their 21st. We had no idea this was going on until Saturday, when we saw the poster for it in Creully. This thing is HUGE. It's also in the center of Bayeux and winds through the streets. You can get lost easily and there's so much to see. Large crowd, too. Many more pictures than usual because of the size.

A couple of the people in costume. There was a good proportion of the people in costume, especially kids. The costumes were not Disneyfied, either. No Cinderellas walking around. The event was free, too, so they weren't doing it to dodge admission price.

Right in front of the cathedral, this is a small span of one of the less crowded areas. It gives you an idea of the crowd.

Garb for sale. Most of it is relatively well made, handcrafted, but using such things as velcro and zippers. Usually, both those things are not visible when worn.

Fete-goers in costume.

More garb for sale. I especially liked the tabard. It was womanly, yet protective for archery.

This is one thing I'm not used to seeing at Ren Faires, but there were a lot of them - senior citizens in costume. Most of them were better than this lady with the glitz, but notice what she's doing - she's making Bayeux lace. There were about twenty people making bobbin lace - no needle lace or crochet lace - throughout the fete. Many pieces were for sale. It seems there's a trend now to make bracelets and chokers using this technique.

The masons in the shadow-courtyard of the cathedral. The cathedral itself is being renovated and these pieces will eventually be part of it. They're using, in the main, medieval techniques, especially for the details. For the big stuff, they use power tools. I just think it was the perfect place to set this up. The masons and carpenters wore white shifts and did try to dress up somewhat. Most wore jeans, too. My husband was snickering because of the fits OSHA would throw at their practices. Not even in the pictures of their workshops was there a pair of safety glasses.

This man was making a leather sheath. He had a lot of swords for sale and evidently, later in the afternoon, was part of an arms demonstration.

A silversmith actually casting buttons. He finished them well, too. His stuff was beautiful.

Even the babies get into the act.

One of two gers that were set up. This one is of twill. The other was of felt and obviously custom made or brought back from Mongolia. I have to say these things looked much, much more comfortable than tents!

Speaking of the tents - which would you sleep in?

A guy demonstrating the making and parts of different weapons and armor.

Busking in front of the cathedral entrance. My husband took several pictures of the cathedral from different places in the festival. I'm going to put them in a separate post.

Huswif- Part 3 Progress

Last week, I had finished part two of this sampler. This week, I finished the first band of part three and started the very large second band. It's packed now for the trip home on Wednesday, so I won't be working on it until close to the weekend. Maybe, when I get home, I'll -finally- have my last package from Heirloom Embroideries.

Thank You Esso!

This trip would not have been possible without my husband being sent over here to France to work for all this time. Thank you ExxonMobil for the opportunity!

Cobblefield Road Start

I'm taking the American Needlepoint Guild's cyberworkshop Cobblefield Road - a Jean Hilton design being taught by Ro Pace. I got my kit just a week before coming to France and I didn't want to start it until I finished another project, so I was just able to start it this week. The colors are beautiful greens and blues and purples - my kind of colors. Hopefully, with the big geometric stitches, it won't take too long to do.

Chateau Views

I decided it'd been a while since I posted about where I am living. It's the Chateau du Mont just outside of Beuzeville. This top picture is between the lines of trees in the front garden. There used to be three lines on this side, but the caretaker took out the outside line just before we got here.

This next picture is the view from the front door.

The fountain is supposed to be turned on Sundays in the summer, but it's got a leak, so it's only been turned on twice since we've been here. My husband took a lot of pictures last time it was on - on the Fourth. Yes, it's about the size of a fountain you'd find in a public plaza.

This is the view of the chateau from the first gate - yes, there are two. The first gate separates the property as a whole from the road.

The view of the chateau from the inner gate. It's rather imposing. Driving down the driveway's fun, especially right in front of the chateau. It's covered in about six inches of pea sized gravel.

I've liked living here, mostly. The grounds and house are beautiful, even if some rooms really need quite a bit of work. It's just hard dealing with the lack of privacy outside of your room. I like having a private dinner with my husband and son, and sometimes we get interrupted by people coming in and just talking to my husband, ignoring us eating dinner and ignoring that he's not alone. It also happens to me frequently when I'm listening to a friend and talking on the puter or listening to the news on my puter with my headphones. Someone will come in and just expect me to drop everything else I'm doing. Without those things, the place would be idyllic.

Birds Flying Away

I managed to finish the calendar round robin I've been working on for a few days this week. I'll be mailing it out on Monday before I leave for Paris. I've got a couple of other things to mail. This makes number two on my twenty-five project challenge. I've been -really good- this week about not buying stash. Maybe I'll get back on track. I'm not sure my suitcases can hold any more.

Tea

I'm one of those weird people who drink tea instead of coffee. On Wednesday, when I was in Deauville, I found this tea and spice merchant with bunches of wooden bowls filled with great smelling stuff. Needless to say, I bought. The teas are beautiful and this picture - well, it wasn't one of my husband's best photographic efforts. Anyway, I bought four kinds and they all smell and look wonderful. One of the other people with us said I should take it out of the bags and use it as potpourri because it smells so good and looks so pretty.