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Sunday, July 5, 2009 – Fisher Fete (the Fête des Pecheurs in Port Vêndres)

Our Man in Paris is Our Man in Paris no more.  Ric Erickson, editor of MetropoleParis, has ended his many years there, and now you can find him in the South of France. He has relocated to Port-Vendres (département of Pyrénées-Orientales, Languedoc-Roussillon région), a fishing village on the Mediterranean, just north of the Spanish border, where the Pyrenees drop into the sea.

This week – the Fête des Pêcheurs in Port Vendres on July 4th, a Saturday –

Port-Vendres, Sunday, 5 July 2009 - Here are some photos, showing principal elements of the Fete des Pecheurs in Port Vendres on July 4th, a Saturday. Local pecheurs, right outside my door, put up a parasol on the dock beside their ship and partied underneath it all day, singing sea chanties and falling in the harbor. Lucky they were so close or we wouldn't have been able to hear.

The weather, as for all fetes in PV, was beastly hot until the lightning and thunder and rain. It did not exactly clear up for the jousting, done by two teams of sturdy galley dudes from Sete. Both teams were named 'amicale' something or other. An observer ship from WWF kept watch to make sure no local animals, or fish, were harmed.

The blue boat's team seemed to be more adept at dumping the red team's jouster into the warm harbor water, where all losers had to tread water until going home. The sizeable crowd of spectators showed no favoritism, cheering all losers, and did not bolt when the rain resumed, with occasional lightning flashes and loud thunder bangs.

After about fourteen clashes we repaired to the Cafe France, five meters away, and had a tidy drink under a soggy parasol. The fishermen on the quay near my place were still in good voice, if not better, louder.

Around ten there was a huge boom that would have rattled my crystal if I had any. We went outside and found that the fete's fireworks were being launched from a near quay, seemingly right over the rue Arago, right over our heads. Was this a welcome gesture made to all new residents? Whichever, a lightshow not too shabby for a poor fishing village keeping body and soul together with hospitality for banana boats.

Sunday features part two of this fete but it is too early to tell how this will work out. The closest fish guys have disappeared with their boat, the marching band is blaring outside, and the weather has dropped its melting humidity and fallen below 30 degrees. Did I forget to say the wind has picked up? Ah, it's just a little breeze, perfect.

~ Ric

Text and Photos Copyright © 2009 - Ric Erickson

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