last night marked the beginning of the new season of beaujolais wine. evidently it is one of few wines that actually tastes best when it's new. (i've also heard it's one of the worst wine regions in france). nevertheless, there are celebrations all over the beaujolais region, and lyon (being the biggest city in the region) was no exception. we arrived at 9:00 to find a small crowd and nothing happening. so we retired to a bar for a few hours and returned at about 11:30. the festivities began with the new wine being brought into town on a horse-drawn carriage. the barrel was adorned with a red cloth and some rather wimpy-looking tree branches. the horse/carriage were followed by people (rather wildly) waving lit torches, a huge marching band, and plenty of idiot tourists (such as myself) trying to snap pictures/not get trampled. it was a sight.
when they arrived at the clock tower they brought the new barrel of wine to join what i imagine was barrels of the old
wine. then the spectacle began - showers of fireworks shooting out from behind the barrels, colored lights (and more fireworks) illuminating the clock tower, and of course terrible french techno music. they began a very snappy chant (see title) that fit in nicely with the music. then they count down and finally illuminate the giant '2008' at the stroke of midnight. it's a bit like new year's but about 10 months late. then the madness begins. they offer a 'degustation' of the new wine, gratuit, which evidently means everyone rushes forward and smashes into the person in front of them. some people were there for the wine, others just seemed to be there to encourage the madness. eventually, we got our samples and the crowd thinned out a bit.
and that was how we rang in the new year of wine.
when they arrived at the clock tower they brought the new barrel of wine to join what i imagine was barrels of the old
wine. then the spectacle began - showers of fireworks shooting out from behind the barrels, colored lights (and more fireworks) illuminating the clock tower, and of course terrible french techno music. they began a very snappy chant (see title) that fit in nicely with the music. then they count down and finally illuminate the giant '2008' at the stroke of midnight. it's a bit like new year's but about 10 months late. then the madness begins. they offer a 'degustation' of the new wine, gratuit, which evidently means everyone rushes forward and smashes into the person in front of them. some people were there for the wine, others just seemed to be there to encourage the madness. eventually, we got our samples and the crowd thinned out a bit.and that was how we rang in the new year of wine.
1 comment:
Hey I like your blog. The Boo-jolay festival sounds a lot like the punxsutawney groundhog festival, except that it's wine instead of a large rodent and it happens at 12 instead of 6am.
Thanks for posting!
-- one of your fans (named Jared) a.k.a. Jean Pierre
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