Thank you For Your Voice

We are now back on British soil and staying in Deal for a few days to spend time with our friends Suzi and Scott Roberts who run the Dining Club here. Last night we went to Broadstairs and popped in to a Pub that happened to be holding a folk night. There were several furtive glances in Graham's direction and after a while a woman came up to him, shook his hand and said 'thanks for your voice'. 

Now Graham has been known to sing the odd ditty or two but we presume it was a case of mistaken identity. The Fluffster became a tad stressed and urged us to leave quite quickly in case he was asked to sing and disappointed an entire room of eager Folkies.

So who does Graham look like? What an amusing night. 

Giants, Devils and Pussies

Sunday morning began at 7am with a roman legion, a group of pirates, and a marching band filing past Dickie. It should have felt weird but after the last couple of days of giants, devils and burning underpants it felt somehow normal. The parade started at 945am so we walked our five minutes into town and found a great spot at the start of the action by 9 o'clock.

brave children

By 1215 we had seen:
a two headed eagle ridden by a three year old bespectacled child with a red feather in his cap;
a giant horse propelled by 16 men hidden in its skirt and ridden by 4 more three year olds this time wearing faux armour;
A number of beautifully decorated floral floats complete with people of various ages wearing costumes from different eras;
several brass bands complete with twirling baton girls;
and five more giants;
....oh and the devil and a savage were there too.
What a hoot!

In true Mr Fluffy form, he was approached by a Belgian radio presenter to do an on air interview about his thoughts on the parade. Quickly mentioning he didn't speak French, the interviewer continued in English and we presume the Fluffster has been beamed live into the radios of several Belgian households spouting forth about the fabulousness of our stay in Ath. He was very excited to learn we had come especially to see Les Geants. The people of Ath are, rightly, very proud of their tradition.

Several times during the parade we were amused to note that a kitten had an even better view of the proceedings than we did. Its owners held it at the window above the action and it stared in awe as the giants twirled around, their hair swinging out almost close enough for it to touch. It's face was a picture.

Fond memories of Ath and its wonderful Geants will stay with us. Thanks to Julia Bovey and Martin Dean who, via Facebook, alerted us to it. It was great to see you all.

Not yet having our fill of strange creatures we headed off to Ellezelles, apparently the birth place of Hercule Poirot no less. I read in the tourist brochures that this town holds a witches' sabbat every June and that there is a 'Sentiers de L'Etrange' (Strange Walk) in the area. A local folklorist and artist, Watkyne, had set up this walk many years ago and has placed strange artworks related to local folklore along the way. It was a very cool walk through some lovely countryside, dotted with a devil playing a violin and numerous other forest fairy folk. The whole town was devoted to a 'sorciere' theme with many shops sporting witches in their windows. The church even had a giant topiary witch, complete with black cat, out the front.

Giant in the museum and me with bad hair

Mrs Goliath at her wedding

The Archer  being 'attended to'.

Victory watched by a pussy in the window

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For the last two days we have been heading back to Calais for the ferry home on Wednesday. It's been pouring with rain but it's been nice to snuggle down in Dickie and listen to the rain pelt down on the roof. We are now at the Aire by the ferry port and watching some rather dodgy characters eyeing up the vans. Or Maybe it's just me being paranoid.

The Ball in the Hole

Saturday 23rd August was the day of the marriage of Goliath and Mrs Goliath and also the birthday of Mr Fluffy. We awoke to the sound of beating drums and had seen 3 rats before 11am. That's what we get for parking next to a canal. The day was looking good so far. In the morning we took a two hour walk along the tow path and the rain came in on our way back. Happily, we were just passing an old birdwatchers' hut so were able to shelter there. We had a lovely view of a lake with ducks swimming and the rain dropping on the water.

view through a hut

We were back in time for the wedding at 3pm. One of the locals told us that it is treated as a real marriage and several dignitaries were there to attend the ceremony in the church. The giants (which weigh around 130 kilos) were paraded and danced along the street by a series of very strong chaps dressed in white. When the giants kiss the whole crowd erupts in screams of delight and enthusiastic applause.

Mrs Goliath

To view a video of the Giants' kiss click here.

Mr and Mrs Goliath

 We had to stand for a long time and a very tall chap came and stood in front of at one point. 'I think I'm standing behind the tallest person here' I said. 'Not quite' said Graham pointing to Goliath.

A little after the wedding a small boy is selected to play 'David' and to challenge the giant then attempt to throw a ball into the hole of his skirt. If the ball goes in it is considered very lucky for the town and, of course, the boy. Tension mounted as the he took aim and 'hoorah' the whole crowd exploded in applause when the ball went in. 'David' was carried on the shoulders of the attendants and some people were in tears at the spectacle. It was very moving actually and bodes well, especially for Mr Fluffy on his birthday. 

the Devil character walks in the procession

Just remembered that I embarrassed my self earlier in the day when chatting in franglais to a very lovely local chap. I had meant to say 'Ici' (meaning 'here') but managed to do my best Hercule Poirot impersonation saying 'eeeer' instead. How embarrassing...luckily he didn't seem to notice my faux pas and I managed to hide my red face and tittering behind a carefully placed hand. Must work on my French.

The Burning of the Underpants

After experiencing the Brotherhood of the Warm Sausage in the Matisse Gallery we felt it was only right that we should attend the burning of the giant's underpants in Ath. Graham's disappointment was palpable as we were banned from entering Lens Louvre because he was carrying a Swiss Army knife, so we headed off to a car park in Ath to attend the Ducasse ( a festival of giants which dates back to the 16th century if not earlier).

at the Museum des Geants

After a bit of looking around we found a nice parking spot tucked away in the corner of the car park by the Gare (train station) which was, of course, free. Some friends of ours, who had tipped us off about the giants, pulled up a few bays across from us so it was great to run across the car park to say hi.  It was a massive 5 minute walk into town where we visited the Museum of Giants and had a stroll around the strangely quiet town. It was not to remain quiet for long as our video will show - click here for burning undies.

prepare for the burning 

It was rather a long wait for the underpants to appear in the Esplanade. We managed to get a great spot where the aforementioned garment was carried in to the excitement of the awaiting crowd. While we waited the police were called to a contre temps between a few 14(ish) year old girls across the way which was a little amusing. It was a little disconcerting to note that the firemen all kissed each other in greeting as did the police. All these burly chaps pecking each other on the cheek was rather unusual. We could not imagine that happening in the UK. All in all it was a violence free, if a little kissy, event and the burning got underway in an orderly manner.

'what big legs you have M Le Geant'

I thought the pants were sponsored by the local brewery as the word 'Gouyasse' was written on them but apparently it is the Belgian word for Goliath, the main giant. It is a apparently a tradition in Belgium that the groom's underpants are burned on the night before the wedding. We returned to Dickie to prepare for the next day's event which included the marriage of Goliath and his bride, and await Graham's birthday.

Mr Fluffy with floating giant at the museum

The Brotherhood of the Warm Sausage

Well, we have heard of Freemasons and 'Buffalos' but had no idea there was a 'Brotherhood of the Warm Sausage'. We had arrived in Le Cateau-Cambresis and decided to go to the Matisse Gallery (Graham loves his art). The first room had a very interesting display of local residents' favourite items, and a little bit about their lives. Along with a pigeon fancier, a farmer and a restaurateur we were excited to see the robes of a member of the 'warm sausage brigade.' Of course it led to great tittering on my part and a small twinkle in the eye of Mr Fluffy which was a bit naughty as I'm sure they take it very seriously.

robe et chapeau de la Confrerie D'Andouille Chaude

The town itself was nothing spectacular but the gallery was fabulous. Along with a large collection of Matisse pieces (he was born in the town) there were Chagalls, Legers and, a new discovery for me, Auguste Hubin. Loved his colourful art and stained glass windows. A very attractive Giacommetti stands in the front courtyard as well.

listening

Auguste Hubin window

We tried to go to Arras but the aire was full and not particularly attractive so we are now in Lens which has an out shoot of The Louvre so we may pop in there this morning (if I can drag Graham kicking and screaming along). Having just heard that Les Geants will be in Ath in Belgium this weekend we will be heading over there later today. 

Pooh Pooh P'Dooh

After a night spent next to a dog's toilet in Nismes near the French border in Belgium, we had a lovely walk to the appropriately named Foundry des Chiens. Really, there was this one chap who separately walked three different dogs to the grass verge next to Dickie and each of them performed An extremely large ablution just outside the door. The aroma of steaming dog doodie wafted through the windows for the entire evening. Such a shame as the town is very pleasant and the aire is free.

No poos up here

We were expecting quite a strenuous walk this morning as the chap in the visitor's centre used the word 'uphill' quite frequently when describing it, but there were only a few small inclines and it took just over an hour. Amusement prevailed as, at one stage, we were overtaken by a little tourist train full of French tourists who exclaimed we were very brave to go 'a pieds' (on foot) in the drizzle and up these (not very) steep hills.

le petit train

The red squirrel population here is thriving as we saw several scampering around the trees. They have black stripes on their backs which look a bit weird.
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Dickie in Landrecies

We've been looking up a bit of history of the place we stumbled upon to stay tonight. Landrecies was the site of a major battle on 25th August 1914 and there is a British cemetery here which we will visit tomorrow. There are several monuments commemorating the war in the town, the church took a direct hit by a bomb, and on a lighter note they've placed a lovely aire by the canal. I just read something on the internet that said this town is where the horse that influenced the writing of WarHorse came from....how interesting.

Graham’s trip statistics

We have now spent 93 days and nights in Dickie on this trip and have driven 7781 miles through Scandinavia and Europe.

On this trip we have averaged 31mpg so far and have spent £ 442 on campsite/overnight stop fees – an average of less than £5 per night.