Tightest and Whitest

It was 48 degrees and windy this morning, with a mistral in full swing.  So we did what any reasonable people would do, we went to sit outside in the cold for a few hours.

This is because we were going to Arles for the big Easter course Camarguaise, where Val’s beloved young men in their tight white pants chase bulls around in the old Roman arena.  It’s the biggest course of the springtime in France.

We had tickets for the same event last spring but it got rained out.  Val had been looking forward to it all year and was depressed for weeks after the cancellation.  She tried to get me to wear some of those tight pants but I pointed out that I haven’t worn disco pants since 1979 and the world is a better place as a result.

We had terrific seats, in the second row and right on top of the action.  The only problem is that our location was so great that the cameraman from TV Sud was parked in front of us.  Luckily, we were able to see around him most of the time.

To our right were the announcers for TV Sud, who periodically provided commentary.  We couldn’t hear it because of the crowd noise but I imagine it went something like this.

“Well, Jacques, what do you think of our third bull, Vaccarese?”

“Well, Guillaume, he’s definitely got to work on his footwork.  You see how his left hoof always drags when he pivots to attack the razeteur?  That’s the kind of thing that will get him sent down to the minors.  And in this sport, any bull that gets sent down usually doesn’t come back, if you know what I mean.”

“Excellent point, Jacques.  And now a word from our sponsor.”

The bulls and the razeteurs didn’t quite seem on top of their games.  There were a few times when they all stood around and looked at each other and nothing happened.  This caused the crowd to start whistling, which is the equivalent of booing in the US. 

Maybe that’s because it was early in the season, so kind of like spring training.  Just like hitters need to work on their timing and pitchers need to sharpen their curveballs, maybe bulls to need practice aiming their horns at the razeteurs’ butts.

We plan to go to another course next month in St.-Remy and I expect that by then everyone will have rounded into mid-season form.

Action photos are below.

KVS

First the pregame festivities

And the action begins!

Watch that left hoof, Vaccarese

A little too much standing around back there, guys