The Jazz Band playing as the evening draws to a close
Everyone on the prowl for a bargain at the Brocante
Carl Brainich with his orchestra
Don't ask - this is Sauve!
The evening sun catches the wood carving stand
Selling or just sitting - Artist or exhausted tourist?
Mother Nature woke up in a really good mood yesterday, clearly prepared to celebrate the 1st of May. The clouts which had been cast off, put back on, laundered, ironed, packed away, unpacked and worn again are now no longer needed, and are at last in the bug-proof bags and stored away on the top shelf in the cupboard. Let's hope there is no reason to unearth them before at least the end of October.
We were in for a busy day and a long one as well. First a visit to Ledignan for lunch and a lovely walk in the vineyards from where it is still possible to see the last vestiges of snow on the higher peaks of the Cevennes mountains. The vines are bursting into leaf and already the long tendrils are twining their way upwards towards the waiting guide wires, and the next batch of excellent Languedoc wine is in the making.
After lunch we drove across to Sauve to enjoy the May Day Festival of Arts, music, fashion and fun. Before climbing up to the village centre, we wandered around the huge array of brocante (which is a mixture of trash and treasure, antiques and junk). The frustrating thing about a huge brocante is the knowledge that if you don't peruse each display, there is always the chance that the very thing that you are looking for will be on the next stand. However, after nearly an hour of gazing at everything from ancient butter churners to plastic Barbie dolls, we made our way up into the village, just in time to hear the last set of the Jazz Band. We were also informed by friends that we met that we had just missed the fashion show as well, but since fashion and I are very distant associates and barely on speaking terms, I wasn't too worried.
The village had literally flung its doors open to all comers, and strange art installations were to be found in all sorts of peculiar places. One rather fascinating venue advertised the delights inside the old archway by dint of a very dead cat nailed to the wall. The cat had clearly seen better days but to give it a bit of a lift, it had been painted with all sorts of bright colours. This is Sauve and one learns not to be too surprised at anything one sees.
To escape the hot streets and rather noisy crowds in the main market place, we nipped into the local boulangerie and purchased a sacristan (yes, you guessed it!) and a palmier, and walked up the little stone lane to the churchyard. Here, under the shade of a large oak tree, we sat on the wall and nibbled at our confectionary and enjoyed the tranquility and peace, and the fact that the residents didn't play loud music or make any noise.
By now it was time to dust off the crumbs and make our way to the village church where Carl Brainich, the Chef D'Orchestre, was about to conduct his twelve piece string orchestra in a programme of Benjaman Britten's Simple Symphony, the Shostakovich Quartet No 8 and the exquisite Adagio for Strings by Barber. The church was filled to capacity with standing room only, and as the music rose and fell under Carl's expert baton, even the young children present were stilled. His hypnotic movements seemed to give the impression that the music was somehow physically attached to him and he wove it around the high walls of the old church like so many ribbons, and tears were surreptitiously wiped from a number of eyes as the Adagio soothed and soared.
The orchestra had only been playing together for a year and members are drawn from as far afield as Montpellier, St Jean du Gard and Avignon, but under the leadership of this extraordinarily gifted Director, they have created an orchestra worthy of really serious public performances. The standing ovation of the audience and the wild cheers of enthusiasm were justly deserved, and we would cheerfully travel to listen to them play again, wherever that might be. Carl and his artist wife Soraya organise musical and artistic soirees at their home Maison des Comtes in Sauve and for more information, do have a look at their website.
http://www.touat.eu/sauve/sauve.htm
Sated with music and beauty, we rounded out the daylight hours with a few glasses of good, and extraordinarily cheap wine in the main square, while the Jazz band entertained us, and we all shouted at each other over the noise, and sneezed copiously from the pollen drifting down from the trees. Dinner with friends, a moon floating high above the courtyard, laughter and more wine - Spring has come to Sauve and we were so glad to be a part of it.
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