I am back for the third time in La Reunion, I know I am quite the lucky guy and as always I plan to make the most of my stay here.
I used the short break between my stays here to go spend 4 days in Los Angeles to attend the Rock The Bells festival with a friend, there I got to listen live to one of my favourite hip-hop group: A tribe Called Quest. They haven’t released anything since they split in 1998 and it was great to see them for the first time on stage. They even played in its entirety one of their best album if not the best: Midnight Marauders. I can’t even describe how I felt when they first appeared on the stage, I can now remove them from my list of artists I want to see live.
This week-end was the first edition of "Les Guinguettes De Saint Gilles", there were things going on in the streets as well as concerts and theme parties. Unlike "Le Grand Boucan", this event was sponsored by the city of Saint Paul from which Saint Gilles is a part. If it wasn’t for the hitchhiker that my wife took we would probably have spent the whole week-end on the beach not knowing that something was happening in the city. There was almost no poster in the city to promote the event and there was even less outside of the city. I don’t know about you but when I spend a lot of money to setup an event I will make damn sure that as many people as possible come. Only at my scuba diver club did I find a huge pile of leaflets detailing the week-end activities: that is a little weird. It seemed like the city hall didn’t want any population outside of the people living in Saint Gilles to be in the know. On Sunday the main street was closed to the cars which is a good thing for pedestrians but the restricted area was so huge that it was easier to see that there were not that many people in the streets of the city centre. The organizers blocked some streets which could have been used as parking space or a concert area. The event gave this vibe of being a good idea but being setup at the last minute.
There were a lot of nice activities. A fest-noz was organized on Saturday evening near the beach, we had the opportunity to listen to traditional music from Brittany; I discovered that there was an association that promoted the songs and dances from Brittany because there is a lot of Breton on the island. I have to be honest I really can’t stand traditional Breton music but I love watching people dance, the type of dance would be announced before each song to tell the audience what step to follow on the dance floor. My ears really hurt but it was nice to watch people have fun. There was a salsa party on Sunday evening also near the beach that was very popular but for aesthetes the tango party was the place to be on the marketplace. My dear wife would love it if we could take tango lessons together one day but one can’t do everything so in the meantime we watched the people beautifully dancing to the rhythm. The advantage is that tango doesn’t hurt my ears.
There were a lot of other things to see but the best was undeniably the fashion show. 6 shops selling clothing for women in Saint Gilles gave some clothes from their latest collection for the show, that was very nice. Those shops found a good way to increase their revenue with some extra publicity, sadly they didn’t think of having the shops opened to welcome the customers interested in buying something after the show. In any case the women were beautiful and you can see my pictures of the show here.
For those who are wondering where the link is between my title and what is in this post, there is none. I discovered this morning that when you put sweet food in a bowl you will not find it later full of ants. I thought it made for a good title.
Le Grand Boucan is the biggest event in Saint Gilles, I have already written that the city is quiet (some would say dead) and everything changes for Le Grand Boucan.
We found a good spot on the balcony of a bar we were used to hanging out to be sure to get a good view when the parade would start. The sun was blazing hot and we were roasting while people where coming in the city. The main street of Saint Gilles was closed to cars after noon and you could only get in on foot or on a bike. There were stands everywhere where you could get something to eat (Chinese food, samosas, caris), have some sweets (pancakes, toffee apples, waffles), buy some clothes or jewellery and have something to drink, there is no party without a drink... One could fill its stomach and enjoy oneself while waiting for the parade to start, a kid playground had been set up on the marketplace for the pleasure of all the parents. A lot of people were disguised and it was very funny to see the disguises the kids had chosen.
The parade started two hours late and we were anxious to see it. We saw floats, bands, dancers; most of the people in the parade were part of a fellowship or a dance crew. There was a security team who was making sure that the parade was not blocked by all public. All of a sudden the dodo king appeared, this year the king was Don Quixote and Sancho Panza. Don Quixote was mounted on a forklift truck that could lift the king above the crowd. You could take the time between the floats to take a look at the different disguises noticeable here and there, you could clearly see that the kids were not the only one to wear disguises a lot of parent were disguised too; in some cases a whole family was wearing the same thing.
Even if the mood was very festive you could still find some people who can never have fun. I guy seating next to me was holding one of those big squirt gun, he would use the height of the balcony to squirt some people at random. Most people wouldn’t mind and laugh it off but some zoreilles (natives from mainland France) would not like that game one bit. There was a terrace located just below the balcony we occupied and each time the guy would squirt someone in the street a few drops of water would fall on the head of someone seated on that terrace. First there were threats, then some name calling and finally the bar manager came up to scream at the guy holding the gun. As soon as the screaming was done and the manager was going to leave he received a squirt in the back of his neck. He went ballistic and tried to grab the culprit but he didn’t even see that there was a kid in the way and almost knocked him down. There were much less squirts once the manager was thrown out of the place but this didn’t stop another guy from coming up and striking the gun shooter twice in the back of his head. I think it amazing how someone can get pissed of because he would get a little bit wet but wouldn’t mind being sprayed with all the stuff you can find at a carnival; some people should just stay home.
Once all the floats had been through the main street, the dodo king was taken to the beach and burned in front of everyone. This signaled the beginning of the night activities, first there were fireworks then concerts and a DJ in the main street. This town which is usually dead around 8PM had its city centre transformed into an outdoor nightclub. There was music for everyone: rock on la plage des roches noires, hip-hop in the forum, ballads in the harbour and dance floor music to move your body in the main street. 2 go-go dancers and 2 strippers (a male and a female) were hired for the party; the strippers didn’t remove their clothes but they were really popular, I don’t know for how many pictures the girl posed. Almost anyone was asking to take her pictures: mothers, young girls, couples, groups of kids… Now one was looking at them weird, everybody wanted to take a picture of a truly beautiful woman. The guy was showing his amazing dance moves while she was striking the pose. This was the party the way it is supposed to be, nobody was looking for trouble, everybody was here to have fun, you would meet new people, laugh a lot and dance a lot. This is everything I like.
I spent 10 hours in Le Grand Boucan last Sunday and I would have stayed longer if I wasn’t tired because of the short night I had. I learned on Monday that this huge event was not even financed by the city. A non profit organization is planning and paying the bills for the whole thing because the city hall of Saint Paul (Saint Gilles is part of the town of Saint Paul) is refusing to pay for anything. The city hall considers that Saint Gilles is zoreille land thus there is not enough Creole population living there to warrant being financed. It is amazing that the biggest event in La Reunion is financed by an organization but at the same time it is sad that it is not financed by the municipality for a stupid reason. The mayor of Saint Paul is often complaining that his administration has a hard time using businesses and tourism to develop the city, that is rich. When one is stupid...
Everything comes to an end and it is time for me to leave La Reunion. It is a little bit sad but I will have the pleasure to go back to Paris and return to my nice apartment.
I have organized a great last week-end. I will start by going scuba diving, I hope I will have the chance to see some sea turtles and stingrays. I will then spend most of the afternoon doing nothing on the beach with a colleague to improve my sun tan. The evening will start with diner on a terrace and end on the dance floor till early in the morning. Sunday morning I will go mountain bike hiking and I hope I will not fall on the ground to often because I will not have slept enough.
To conclude the week-end properly I will spend Sunday afternoon in Le Grand Boucan. It the big carnival of Saint Gilles, there is a parade with costumed people, there are concerts, the Dodo king will be burned and fireworks will end the day. It will be nice to take pictures of the parade and meet a lot of people. Have a nice week-end.
Every June 21st we French celebrate music, anyone feeling like playing something can go in the street and start playing all day and all night long. I hit the streets hoping to find some good music and have a good time.
Music is not celebrated on June 21st in La Reunion, it is celebrated the week-end before to allow everyone to enjoy the party as much as possible. It is a good idea but it kills a little bit the original idea of celebrating music on the first day of summer. You end up having almost no music to listen to outside on the 21st because the celebration already happened and most people are back in there routine. Saint Gilles is considered the Saint Tropez of La Reunion, it is nice and quite little town were everything is expensive for no reason. I expected the 21st to be a little bit lively but it was dead. To be fair there was a live band in a bar on the beach and a DJ was mixing in a bar on the main street. I thought that the music celebration in Tahiti was the worst but Saint Gilles is in fact the worst place for this celebration.
will have to go and see how music is celebrated in Europeans countries, it is certain that it will be better than in Tahiti and Saint Gilles.
Last Monday I had to work in the evening; as I live in Saint-Gilles and I was supposed to work in Le Port I ordered a taxi to come and pick me up at my place.
I stepped out around midnight to go get my taxi but there was nothing waiting for me outside. Ten minutes later istill didn’t see any taxi coming. I called the driver and asked where he was, he answered that he tried to call me but it would never connect. He thought it was a prank mostly because I asked him to meet me in front of a bar right in front of where I live. I told him that I really needed a taxi and that he should hurry to come and get me but he didn’t seem motivated: he was afraid I would not be there. I explained that I didn’t call him twice the same day not to show up when he would get at the meeting place, he was still not convinced. He asked for my phone number but I just had that number for 4 days and really couldn’t remember the digits. I answered that he should write the numbers appearing on his phone but he countered that no numbers where displayed; that was odd but not impossible. I repeated that he should hurry up because I had other things to do than waste time talking to him instead of being at work, it finally convinced him to move.
We set up a meet in a place he knew in the city and he asked me again to be at the meeting place before hanging up. I confirmed that I would be waiting for him, hung up and 2 minutes later he called back to remind me two wait for him. I could have sworn he told me my phone number didn’t appear on his phone… In the end I was 45 minutes late at work, one thing is for sure the next time I work at night I will rent a scooter.
