Avallon - Strolls Around a Pretty Town

Lillian :  Avallon is a really pretty town ... a lovely place to explore.

Audrey :  This photo is from just in front of  L’église Saint-Lazare - lots of really old buildings.

Lillian :  In the background - the Clock Tower & Bell Tower behind it, they were built between 1456 & 1459.  The building in the centre is the House of the Lords Domecy - it was built in the 15thC and has recently been repaired.                     In 2007 it did look rather crumbly.

Audrey :  The Clock Tower has an arch - you walk right through it from the main shopping street.  The Tourist Office is the half-timbered 15thC building on the left  ...  and then you come to the wonderful statue of a Frog. 

I gave the Frog a kiss but it didn't turn into a statue of a Prince.




Lillian :  These beautiful tiles are on the floor of the foyer in the Tourist Office.














 And this mosaic is from Roman times - it is in the Musee Avallonaise which is well worth a visit.
















Audrey : The people of Avallon display a quirky sense of humour ...  a fallen stone gets a painted face ... the facade of a house gets a sweet squirrel over the door ...

    

Audrey :  And there are lots of cats in Avallon - 

Cat in an Attic Window

Pretending to be a tiger in the jungle

Another Cat in another window

Let Me Out!

Lillian :  All that exploring does get rather tiring - we had a sit-down on the doorstep of an old house ...

You were feeling quite tired Audrey.

Double Rhubarb - rhubarb tart and rhubarb glacée

 Audrey : Yes but I felt much better after we had a lovely lunch in the garden at Tearoom Dame Jeanne

Lillian :  The next day we explored some of the parks and jardins.  The massive War Memorial (by Pierre Vigouroux) is at the end of this park - facing L'église Saint-Martin-du-Bourg. 

Just outside the walls - under the Tour Gauchard is the Square Houdaille

And in the centre of town is Place Vauban with the statue of the Marquis - it is by Bertholdi who also created the Statue of Liberty.

 Audrey : It was spring and the gardens were full of flowers - 

Audrey in the Buttercups Ranunculus repens

Lillian and Purple Tulips

In a patch of Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta

Audrey :  You were wearing your new black dress Lillian.

Lillian in her new Little Black Dress

And a Little Blackbird - he sang so beautifully.

Spring-time in Avallon

Avallon - Carnavallon

Lillian :  It was completely by accident that we were in Avallon on the weekend of their spring Carnival
Audrey : Called ..... .....   CarnAvallon!
Lillian :  The main events were on the Sunday afternoon (it was the week before Easter) when everyone converged on Place Vauban, Avallon's central square.




 Audrey : And they had a Confetti War!  The children were having a lovely time throwing confetti everywhere - it was great fun.

Lillian :  There was a hint of traditional Carnival topsy-turvy-dom about the Confetti War.  Carnival being the one time a year when a society's rules of polite behaviour were abandoned with class & hierarchy turned up-side down - briefly.  Mostly it was the children throwing the confetti and they were taking great delight in showering confetti on the adults - their parents, the obvious tourists, the policeman ... and everyone was taking being confetti'ed in great good humour.

Audrey : Everyone and their dogs ended up with confetti everywhere !

 

Lillian : Then there was the parade - which started with even more confetti!

 

Audrey :  First time I've seen a leaf-blower being put to good use!

Lillian :  The local folkloric group Le R'Gipiau wearing traditional costumes, some playing small accordians ...

then they danced - 

  Our stylist was fascinated by those wooden clogs and the thick woolen socks -

 

Lillian : There were floats ... my favourite was this wonderful kingfisher.  Probably a Common Kingfisher, Alcedo atthis, which is found in France. 

Audrey : My favourite float was the Ratatouille one.

Lillian : There were bands - and they were good! 

 

Lillian : These trumpeters had a bit of a musical duel.

Audrey : And there were lots of people wearing costumes - the Sun(flower) King 

lots of Courtiers 

 

I doubt they had foil balloons of motor-cyclists in the 18thC.

Audrey : Some fairy-tale people  

and performers from the Circus - he was very bwave wasn't he Lillian?

Lillian : Well yes.  Just after we took that photo his horse got spooked and he very nearly fell!

Lillian : Vauban looking down at all the people.

Audrey : Perhaps he wanted to come down and join in all the fun - who was Vauban?

Lillian :  Marquis de Vauban was born near Avallon - he was a military engineer in the time of Louis XIV.

 

Audrey : This little girl gave our stylist an idea ...

Audrey :  In Australia we call it Fairy Floss, in America it is Cotton Candy but the French call it barbe à papa.

 Which translates literally as 

Father's Beard  tee hee

Lillian :  The aftermath of the Confetti War ... it was Everywhere!