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
 

"Ibal mès un repetit à la padeno qu'uno auco que bolo à la sereno."
"Better a wren in the pan than a goose in the sky".

The Chateau des Ducs de Joyeuse was the residential base for the majority of the party.
Situated in Couiza, it is a very impressive, and largely genuine, relic of the French Wars of Religion.
It was also to be the venue for 2 of our evening meals.
Friday night's gathering was a splendid affair.

 
Catharism    Close up 
We had been given the use of one of the splendidly spacious gathering rooms in the chateau.
The walls were adorned with some murals outlining the appalling suffering of the 13th Century Cathars.
Mr and Mrs Sanders wore their evening best for the occasion    I'm from Hello! magazine 
It was an interesting juxtaposition of the required dress code for the evening - "The Englishman Abroad" - and the simplicity of the Cathar lifestyle.
Fred and Binkie joined in the spirit of the occasion.
So did Tommo, Doods, Bob, Gilberta and Dave.
Hello!    Hullo! 
Geoff, Barb, Pat (sans chapeau) and Christine made the most of the opportunities, while Sebastian, Dave and Nina were ensconced at the back of the room, ready for anything the evening might produce.
Hi!    Well hello! 
And all round the room, anticipation and excitement rose at the thought of more food and wine.
You hum it, I'll pick up the rhythm    I could have danced all night ... 
In preparation, the musos played and some basic dancing happened ...
I've only just had lunch    But if you insist 
... while the massive buffet sat temptingly to one side.
Quite where we were expected to put this marvellous food - especially after the Duck As-sault at lunchtime - I don't know.
But somehow we managed - and delicious it was, too.
Can't be too careful    Especially when Sebastian's around. 
A strange knotted-handkerchief hierarchy developed during the evening, making some of us wonder if an esoteric ritual, to which we were not privy, was taking place ... .
It may have been of course a means of deflecting the Sebastian effect. You can tell from these pictures that he got about a bit.
Greetings I'll have Bushmills    Bury your face deep in your rag ... 
And our suspicions were roused further by the strange full-facial version which appeared very late on.

Whatever the truth of the matter, the whole evening was convivial in the extreme, there was some lovely and appropriate singing, and the party dispersed around 23.00 hours to prepare for another day, Saturday.

Page maintained by Stephen Clarke, steve@little-egypt.org.uk. Copyright(c) 2006. Created: 08/06/2006