The Morris Men of Little Egypt

A Bloodless Crusade

 

Little Egypt:
Languedoc
2006

Thursday Morning
Thursday Lunch
Thursday evening
Friday Morning
Friday Lunch
Friday Evening
Saturday Morning
Saturday Lunch
Saturday Afternoon
Saturday Evening
Sunday Morning
Sunday Lunch

The Squire

Where we went

Morris Index
 

As matters turned out, in a tour of many highlights, Friday was possibly the highest and lightest.

The day was divided, like Gaul, into three parts: surprisingly, morning, afternoon and evening.

"A bint ans qui boli. Abint è cinq qui trobi. A trento qui me bol."
"At twenty, whoever I want. At twenty five, whoever I find. At thirty, whoever wants me."

 
Streets of Alet    Another street of Alet 
The day began at the picturesque village of Alet-les-Bains.
It is a place with two previous claims to fame.
And again    Guess where 
Firstly, it is a renowned spa. The waters are supposedly good for all manner of digestive ailments, such as obesity, diabetes, gastritis and colitis.
So - an obvious place for a Morris side to visit.
Towards the abbey    Similar 
Secondly, it is also the reputed birthplace of the seer and sayer, Nostradamus.
It is unclear whether he foretold the arrival of obsessive Englishmen in his ancestral homeland, but if he did ...
"When rivers run red and hills turn green, marauding strangers in white apparel will be seen" 
This bit's easy    This bit's supposed to be .. 
Alet turned out to be rather a quiet place, but we attracted a reasonable crowd.
A fair proportion of them were English settlers - feeling nostalgic, perhaps? - but they certianly seemed to enjoy it.
Keeping it together    Cast a cold eye 
The dancing was efficient and lively (despite - or because of - Thursday's excesses) and the setting provided a certain amphitheatric quality to the whole.
Taking the broader view    Give it some wellie Bob 
One result of our performance was to be invited to return earlier next year to participate in the local festival, known as
 "Tocques et Clochers" - Chefs Hats and Steeples.
We are intrigued.
Everbody smile    I hope you're taking notes 
At the end of our dance, we were treated to some more Cremant de Limoux, and then some self-important poser delivered a minor peroration on the history of the region, and the significance of the Cathars to the area.

Then, it was back to the coach for our appointment with lunch, a duck or several, and some interesting wines.
Page maintained by Stephen Clarke, steve@little-egypt.org.uk. Copyright(c) 2006. Created: 08/06/2006