Summertime!

Summertime in France means party time!
Juilliet quatorze is celebrated everywhere--it is the equivalent of our November 5th! Fireworks everywhere!
In Charroux all the children are given lanterns and torches and lead the crowds of villagers up to the playing fields to see the firework display. It is always held on July 13th, just as it gets dark, and is meant to symbolise a re-enactment of the storming of the Bastille in 1796.
It's possible to get out every night to some sort of entertainment that week--if you've got the stamina!
We had B&b's staying and so didn't even get to the annual 'Marches des producteurs'-- a sort of local farmer's market, held in the Halles in Charroux. Tables are set out and you go & buy your food & have it cooked on one of the many barbecues in the street, and then go & join friends & sample all the local produce-- it's a lovely way to spend an evening--and held throughout Poitou-Charentes during the summertime.
The weather has been very hot for the last couple of months. The garden requires constant watering---- and we have succumbed at last!!--and bought a 7 metre pool--so may the hot weather continue for the whole of the summer!