Last week was the Fete de la Musique.
Every year, on June 21st, any and all musicians (amateur or
professional) perform - mostly for free - in concerts all around France. These
concerts take place anywhere and everywhere including streets, hospitals and
even prisons! What a beautiful way for all society to share a moment.
A concert was taking place outside
a local bar where you could sit and order inexpensive (but good tasting)
bottles of wine and pizza. There were lots of families gathering around, mostly
enjoying the music and perhaps hoping some of the fun of the evening will rub
off on their children and encourage them to play an instrument or just
appreciate music. This is something I notice a lot in France – all generations
of a family out together – the way society and work are structured seem to
really support maintaining that strong part of the fabric.
The bands playing were pretty good but I found some of the characters attending made for better photographic material! Of the more interesting sights was one particular family where all the males, be they grandfathers, fathers, children, uncles, brothers, cousins, etc without exception, sported ponytails!! No matter what hairstyle they had: long, short, bald or curly they ALL had ponytails. I found out that this had been the case for generations. This family’s dna profile also lent itself towards that of the short and stocky variety. So it was a most fascinating sight seeing them all lined up at a bar drinking together!
