Sunday, June 23

---

Today is a holiday in France, la fête de Saint-Jean. Traditionally, each village burns an effigy or has a large bonfire. According to our hosts, some areas celebrate more than others. In Catalonia, they read a script in Catalan and light their fire with torches lit from a flame that is kept continuously burning throughout the year. We started the evening in the village they live in to listen to live music. The lead singer is our hosts’ son’s guitar teacher. The group sang rock music in English and they were pretty good!

Here is their bonfire, waiting to be lit.

We brought some toys and some local girls played too. The boys ran off and played tag and hide and seek.

Then we went to the closest bigger village to see a cultural demonstration. All the villages light their fire at the same time, around 10pm so we were going to see the bonfire there too.

Their bonfire, ready to go with effigy on top.

The kids played while we waited. Some played on the playground equipment and some spent their time rolling down the hill.

Then, the festivities started with a parade by the children and some horses and ponies.

They read the script in French and Catalan while the kids stood around the bonfire site with their torches.

The kids are wearing traditional Catalan outfits.

Then it was time to start it up so the kids threw the torches on the bows. We had to progressively take steps back as the fire got hotter. It took a long time for the effigy to burn and the fire was still going when we left an hour and a half later. Once the fire was started, the DJ started up and played some great dance music. They served juice and the traditional cake served on Saint-Jean. We joined in a bridge/train dance around the fire where you join hands to make a bridge and people pass underneath. Eventually, you’re the last ones on the train and you pass underneath. It was Asa’s idea to join it and it was a great way to end the night. We had a little trouble finding a route home because some of the roads in town were closed to accommodate the festival but we made it home in time to watch some fireworks in Spain from our hosts’ mountain top. The whole day was a lot of fun and I’m glad we got to share it with Alizée and Lionel’s family.