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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 25, 2017 15:53:51 GMT
Les Médiévales de Provins is the largest medieval festival in France (which of course makes me wonder where the largest medieval festival in Europe is located, but I have not done any research on that yet), but I was totally unaware of its existence until about six months ago because I generally don't pay attention to such things. In my final days living on the other side of the Atlantic, they had invented "Renaissance Fairs" and what I saw of them was pretty appalling, so the whole concept was filed away in my mind for decades. However, last year I accidentally visited Pierrefonds on the day of their medieval festival (link here), and my original opinion of these events was modified. For one thing, I find it amusing how vast the concept of "medieval festival" is in terms of costumes. There are plenty of people who make an admirable effort to be historically accurate, but lots of other looks are accepted with open arms, from Pirates of the Caribbean to 21st century Goth, not forgetting magic and wizardry of course. So basically it is like attending a huge costume party where you yourself are not obliged to be in costume, and that suits me just fine.
The festival in Provins lasts 48 hours -- Saturday and Sunday -- but I decided to just go on Sunday. However, I heard tons of people talking about having been there both days, even when they were not costumed. These might mostly be people who live in the area. While Provins is considered a distant suburb of Paris and my travel pass includes it with no supplement, it is still 70 minutes from Paris so I can't imagine the people who commute every day.
In any case, there is a train to Provins every hour at --:46 and the return train from Provins to Paris is also conveniently at --:46 so it is easy to keep track of the time when needing to return.
This morning I took the train at 09:46. It was absolutely packed and many people had to stand all 70 minutes. A few people were already in costume. A few minutes after 11:00 we arrived in Provins.
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The Voulzie is the very small river that runs through Provins. It is an affluent of the Seine only 44 kilometres long, but what always impresses me is its strong current. We are at the beginning of a drought right now, but the current was still strong, so it must come from a very vigourous spring. Then again, perhaps it is compressed in Provins into a much narrower channel which would make it flow faster.
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I didn't have to pay attention to the signs this time; I just followed the crowd. A huge number of the visitors were Japanese, and they never get lost.
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We passed a car park stable where some knights had dismounted from their steeds and were assembling their possessions before joining the fun.
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And then the climb to the medieval ville haute (upper town) began.
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And here we are, projected about 500 years into the past.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 25, 2017 16:02:15 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 25, 2017 17:02:57 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 25, 2017 17:22:33 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 25, 2017 18:59:28 GMT
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 25, 2017 19:55:32 GMT
Looks like so much fun, and you certainly had a beautiful day for it. Some of the costumes are really excellent, but as you pointed out a few of them would have had their wearers roasting in them. The armor!
Is that a type of fruitcake next to the nougat?
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Post by fumobici on Jun 26, 2017 0:17:47 GMT
Well, well. This looks like an afternoon's worth of fun to me. I'd have to be pretty starved to eat some of that (how medieval!), and it doesn't seem like hypocras season, but the stuff the lady with the pastries had in front of her looked OK. Some of the costumes are WTF? but others--I have in mind some of the fiorentini ricci and the Saracen guy--look almost elegant. I'm hoping the wi-fi in the church was bad. <edit> OK I googled it, and if 15 seconds worth of backbreaking research is worth anything the largest medieval festival in Europe is a rather sadistic and lurid jousting tournament and associated festivities in a place called Kaltenberg, Germany. Link (with Russian cooties!!!1!): www.rt.com/in-motion/172304-germany-largest-medieval-festival/ |
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Post by lagatta on Jun 26, 2017 2:03:42 GMT
How is Provins as a place to visit out of season? It is a pretty town with dramatic scenery for that part of France.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 26, 2017 3:48:58 GMT
How is Provins as a place to visit out of season? It is a pretty town with dramatic scenery for that part of France. My first visit to Provins was a failure: Provins Unseen
But last year's visit well after the festival was quite nice: Provins 2016
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 26, 2017 3:54:37 GMT
Looks like so much fun, and you certainly had a beautiful day for it. Some of the costumes are really excellent, but as you pointed out a few of them would have had their wearers roasting in them. The armor! Is that a type of fruitcake next to the nougat? Yes, there were quite a few baked items faithfully using medieval recipes. Most of them looked rock hard to me. |
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 26, 2017 3:59:55 GMT
The open countryside is not very far away in Provins.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 26, 2017 4:17:03 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 26, 2017 5:27:26 GMT
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Post by mich64 on Jun 26, 2017 15:13:19 GMT
I would certainly be entertained by this! It does look fun. Part of the fun is how passionate people are with their costumes. I wonder if it will eventually become like some of the Comic-con events in the USA where TV and motion picture stars attend?
Also, I enjoy watching artisans craft their merchandise.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 26, 2017 16:10:30 GMT
The main thing that kept going through my mind, mich, while I watched all of these people was "Merlin." And since Pierrefonds is not all that far from Provins, I can imagine very well that some of these people must have been extras in that show. What I did not realise is that so many people would not even need to obtain clothing from the costume department to be an extra in such a series. |
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Post by mich64 on Jun 26, 2017 18:14:59 GMT
Kerouac I can understand why you had reflections of the Merlin production in Pierrefonds, I did as well with many of your photos of this event and a few costumes I thought might have been from the Merlin extras.
Interesting reading material when I put the question to google regarding the tents! I had no idea the details involved in reproducing them for festivals. Scallop edges, braiding, panels, supports, all kinds of topics one could research into! Colored panels did seem to be of importance along with emblems and symbols.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2017 4:16:27 GMT
Thanks for looking it up, Mich. I would hazard a guess that the tent colours probably were used to identify where the officers were, not to mention the king when on the battlefield. And depending on the situation, I would also imagine that the important people often did not stay in the identifying tents for safety reasons. |
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2017 4:30:13 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2017 10:37:09 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2017 10:59:32 GMT
And that ended my visit to Provins. For people who would like to see this sort of thing, the Médiévales de Nemours is still coming up on July 1-2 and there is also the Senlis Medieval Fair on 23-24 September which is much more specific because it is "a day in the 13th century." Get your plague shots! And naturally there are several hundred other medieval events all over the country every year... |
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Post by mossie on Jun 27, 2017 16:32:06 GMT
Looks like a great day out, and any excuse will do to dress up in whatever medieval costume takes your fancy. I love the queue for food, they do not look malnourished. And what a grand idea when one storms the castle walls to have safety harness and a good strong strap to support you. It wasn't so dangerous in those days after all.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 27, 2017 18:40:43 GMT
My pedantic side says that there should have been a rule against anachronisms, but realistically it all made for a lot of fun.
Any idea why the icky diseased guy was carrying that big horn?
You took some killer pictures, but I'll just mention the ones I remembered to make notes on ~
1st photo in #11: the couple mulling over the modern map, he in contemporary clothing, she from the middle ages.
2nd photo in #12: the way the woman put those horns in her hair is brilliant!
That view across the wheat(?) fields is very beautiful.
2nd picture in #16 really captures the feel of the period.
Love the expressions on the dog and the woman, 2nd photo in #17.
Those kids are pretty brave. That's a high wall they're climbing!
Finally, that portrait of the bosomy woman with the big pan of potatoes is super photography.
Thanks for taking us back in time with you!
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 27, 2017 19:00:46 GMT
I think I saw him actually blowing that horn. Meanwhile most of the smaller horns were actually being used for drinking.
When they finally perfect time machines for all eras, all big outdoor festivals will look like this.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 12, 2021 17:07:36 GMT
Oh, I really hope that this festival happens again this year.
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Post by htmb on Dec 12, 2021 19:14:53 GMT
Looks like some of the 2017 participants were already preparing for darker days.  Brilliant photos, by the way. |
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