Category — Special Events

Toques et Clochers, a wine festival organized by the Sieur d’Arques winemakers of Limoux, takes place locally every year in order to celebrate and promote the different wines of the area.

The festival has been running for almost 20 years now, in a different town or village of the area every year. This year’s event was in Couiza, a small town about 15km south of Limoux, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. The money raised by the festival each year goes towards the restoration of the belltower (clocher) of the church of whichever village the festival was held in.

The ‘toques’ part of  ‘Toques et Clochers’ means a chef’s hat and is a reference to the many food stands you will find dotted about the town of wherever the festival is held. Amongst the types of food sold on the streets of Couiza this year were aiguillettes (sliced duck breast), oysters, chips, foie gras, moules marinères (mussels with wine wine, garlic and parsley), crêpes, pâtisseries, churros, toutière landaise (apple tart with prunes and Armagnac), and assiette de la mer (mixed seafood).

The wine tasting stalls are also found dotted about the town, with a different stall representing a different wine making are. The different areas of white wine represented were: Terroir d’Autan, Terroir Haute Vallée, Terroir Méditerranéen and the Terroir Océanique. There was also a stand for bubbly wine of the area, including the famous Blanquette de Limoux, and one stand for red wine of Limoux.

Prices were generally at 2 euros per glass (or 10 euros for  a pitcher) when you bought the wine at each stand. If you bought tokens at entry points, you could get 3 ‘dégustations’ (tastings) for 5 euros, or a combined deal of a return bus journey to Couiza and back plus a Toques et Clochers glass plus 1 dégustation for 5 euros.

These bus services were available from Quillan, Limoux and Rennes Le Château, and were specifically for the festival. People attending the festival were indeed obliged to take these bus services as all roads to Couiza were simply cut off… the towns and villages that host the festival are simply not large enough to take all the people who come to the festival. Last year’s estimates were at around 40,000, and it was meant ot be more for this year.

Apart from food and drink dotted around the town there also certain ‘expositions’  and strange structures… one such example is enormous models of grapes attached to the trees, in an attempt to make them look like vine trees.

Certain buildings were open to display examples of local artists’ work, or to give local writers a chance to publicise their books.

The streets of the town was also littered with any and every sort of music, from rock to panpipes to samba to traditional occitan songs.

As night fell, the streets became ever more packed and it soon became a challenge to make your way from one end of the street to the other.

Lights came on around the bridges over the river…

and multicoloured patterned lights began to decorate the clocher (church tower) in order to illuminate the focus of the festival.

                                                                                                                                                       The atmosphere became ever more lively and festival-like as the evening wore on, with dancing in the street and people singing along to the music.  People of all ages were seen thoroughly enjoying themselves, and this is very much an occasion suitable for all.

I would encourage people to come to with a group of friends if you really want to have fun and let your hair down, though it is equally something that is fun to do with the family- bringing children is normal and fine, and the whole atmosphere of the town is jolly, happy and safe.

A truly good, simple, fun experience.

Photos courtesy of Jan Riordan, Colours of Pays Cathare.

Limoux, an interesting little town about 25 km south of Carcassonne, has long had an international reputation for 2 things: its famous Blanquette wine and its legendary carnaval (French) or fécos (Occitan, the traditional language of the area).

Blaquette de Limoux is officially the world’s oldest naturally-sparkling wine on record, as its production and distribution were described in 1531 by the Benedictine monks at the nearby abbey of Saint-Hilaire, who are rumoured to have discovered the wine themselves (see http://louisandlouisa.com/2006/07/st-hilaire-blanquette-de-limoux-2003/ for further details).

The Limoux Carnival is thought to be the oldest carnival in the world, running anually since at least the 16th century. There is no agreement as to exactly how or why the carnival started, but one (admittedly rather tenous) theory is that the bubbly wine inspired such merriment and party spirit, that a carnival was invented in its honour. Another theory is that it is derived from a pagan winter festival.

The carnival here differs in many ways from the common French summer festivals of many other towns and villages. Firstly, the Limoux carnival is much longer lasting than most, as it takes place every weeekend for ten consecutive weeks; secondly it runs in the winter from January until Easter; and thirdly, the ’sorties’ or performances, occur three times a day.

The first sortie is at 11 in the morning, and has a political theme; its general purpose seems to be to mock any of the year’s news stories. The second sortie is at 4 30 in the afternoon and the thirs is at 10 at night. Each sortie begins with the band (made up of local musicians only) entering the first café of the 4 it will enter on its way around the square.

Behind the band come the dancers (pierrots) who will be dressed in a different costume every year, but are all uniform.

Whilst following the band around the square, the pierrots perform the traditional festival dance, the fécos (after which the carnival is named), which involves moving your arms but not the rest of your body (except for moving forwards or revolving on the spot).

Every pierrrot comes armed with a bag of confetti, and seems to think it their duty to ensure that no one returns home without having had a handful thrown in their face at least once. In fact, if you recieve a facefull of confetti yopu have got off lightly- dancers are often seen rubbing handfuls in people’s hair, or esle shoving it down the back of their necks.

Spectators beware: towards the end of the evening, the dancers may try to grab people from the crowd and encourage you to dance with them- great if you’re up for it, but if you’re not, make sure you’re not standing right at the front!

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Behind the official dancers in matching costumes come the ordinary people dressed up in various costumes who dance behind (goudils)- anyone is allowed to join on the end as long as you are in some form of fancy dress! The more bizarre the costume the better!

On the final sortie of the last day of the carnival (21st March this year), the spectacle doesn’t end after the band, pierrots and goudils have finsihed their laps of the square. At midnight, the king of the carnival is put on trial. This trial is held entirely in Occitan, whilst the effigy of the king is tied to a stake, awaiting judgement. Up until this year, the prosecution had always won and therefore the burning of the king has always followed. For the first time in the carnival’s history, the king was let off this year.

The pierrots still proceeded to gather in a circle on their knees around the fire however, singing their mournful and chilling chant of “Adiou paure canaval, tu t’en vas e iu demori jusqu’à l’annada que ven” (Farewell poor Carnival, for you depart, and I shall remain until the coming year), while the effigy was burned.

The carnival is altogether a very odd combination of sinister yet jolly; historical yet current; and gauche yet elegant. It is without a doubt truly unique and authentic experience however, and an event I would encourage anyone in the area to go and witness.

I had a special invitation today from The Secret Sherry Society, which represents wine’s best kept secret….Sherry.

In partnership with The Embassy of Spain and Maryland Institute College of Art, they are hosting a cocktail reception next Monday evening (March 8th, 2010) at MICA with a senior mixologist from Washington, D.C.’s Jaleo.

And, very graciously, they are extending this invitation to all readers of louisandlouisa.com!  How very,very nice!

Preview Spain Arts and Culture 2010

6PM-10PM

Maryland Institute College of Art

1300 Mount Royal Avenue

Baltimore, MD 21216

6PM Cocktail reception hosted by The Secret Sherry Society with senior mixologist from Washington, D.C.’s award-winning Jaleo Restaurant.

7PM Lecture with world renowned designers and architects, Toormix, Nacho Carbonell and Vicent Guallart.

Sherry is indeed one of wine’s best secrets!  And I will be writing about sherry in the next few weeks.

Jaleo is also one of the area’s most interesting restaurants.  It is owned by José Andrés, who trained under Ferran Adria, the person behind El Bulli, one of the world’s most famous restaurants.  I love his food, his restaurants, and his television programs!

I will definitely be going, and it might be a nice opportunity to say hello to people who follow louisandlouisa!  If you are coming, drop me a note (louis@louisandlouisa.com) or comment, and I’ll look out for you!

The Al Azhar mosque is in front of the Khan Al-Khalili Bazaar where I went to buy some presents for my family.

All the shops were open until about ten o’clock. You can buy almost anything in the bazaar — food, clothes, jewelry, souvenirs, spices, sheets, towels!