Provins Medieval Fair, 2024: Part The First

We visited the Provins Medieval Fair in 2019. Rebecca, on her sabbatical, had rented a Paris apartment in the 11th, and we joined her and Penelope for the second month of the rental. I think we learned of the Fair through local advertising and, naturally, resolved to try it. It is said to be largest such fair in France, probably in Europe, and despite spending only one day, we were all sufficiently knocked-out that we resolved to do it again some time. And I did three blog posts extolling and explaining it all: here, here, and here. 

This year it was just Vicki, Penelope, and me, but Vicki had rented a B&B in Provins (nearly two hours from Paris by RER), and we did two days. If anything, the fair seemed larger, with even more people, acts, and merchandise this time. In any case, the place is a total hoot, whether you're French or Medievalist or not. Part of the fun is that fair-goers in costume get in for a reduced price, and seeing all the costumes alone is worth the full price of admission for the rest of us. This year Penelope brought her own costume--more anon--and a fair amount of the time was spent accessorizing it Medievally. Another part of the fun is that Provins is itself a well-preserved Medieval fair town, a World Heritage Site, in the Middle Ages a center for international trade and for the birth of a new economic order. But I digress.

Part of the apartment in Provins

About Penelope's dress: some years ago, Vicki had
made matching mother and daughter Macbeth dresses, 
for Rebecca and Penelope, both of which got used on a
number of occasions; Penelope has of course outgrown
hers, but as Provins approached they hit on the idea of
fitting her mother's dress to Penelope for her costume;
and after some hours of sewing and fitting in Cary, they
made it happen

Penelope in the daughter's dress at the Atherton Christmas party, 
2018

Fast-forward back to 2024, taking in tent after tent of jewelry at Provins

Saturday mid-day and the place already is getting crowded

Evidently the Medievals were really into pulled pork sandwiches

Medieval ferris wheel

Swordplay in the street every here and there

Stilts seemed to be big this year

Street scene

A black cape is added to the outfit

Goth/Medieval also well represented

Note kid with Viking helmet

Music, parades, processions

By afternoon we are approaching the wall and main gate

More music, probably not "Moonlight Serenade"

Atop the wall, noting a variety of tents without; more merch

Modeling the dress and cape

Ye olde watchtower

Dinner was pulled pork and fries; OK, fries are not
very Medieval, except in Peru, but this is France, and they
can't help themselves

A Night At The Ballet

Penelope was pretty taken with the Palais Garnier and especially its ballet productions and quickly discerned that there might be tickets still available for a performance. Grandma at this point stepped up, as she always does, and scored tickets for Friday night's performance of Giselle, the story of which Penelope knew well, and took P there as well. With the Louvre and then the Garnier Ballet it was a long day. And the action was only beginning.

About to leave the apartment

On the Grand Staircase (Vicki using the "make
other people disappear" feature on her new Pixel 8a)

Initially they had separate seats, but got together after the 1st act

Vicki's seat in the 4th tier, right up there with Chagall

Not for those afraid of heights

Now joined by P

Action shots; as it were

P seemed very pleased with the experience...Vicki
no doubt thinking ahead to two days at the Provins
Medieval Fair, two days at Disney, etc., starting the
next morning...

Louvre, 1

Apart from preparing and packing for the impending overnight trip to Provins and its annual Medieval Fair, we had scheduled a Friday visit to the Louvre. Vicki and I are members of the Amis du Louvre, with unlimited visits, and also are entitled to bring a guest each. Art history is a staple of P's home schooling, and she is quite knowledgeable. But she prefers getting her lessons from books, the internet, videos and such, and has never been much of a museum person. So we try to keep her museum-time relatively short and sweet. I think we took her to the Louvre three times during her visit. 

Just off the Pyramide, today's wedding pix

So we get to special entrance for Amis card-holders and are informed

the museum is closed: a strike is underway; while Vicki stands patiently

in line, hoping the strike will be resolved or otherwise end, Penelope and 

I cross the street in hopes of finding a cafe...passing, en route, the historic 

Comedie Francaise

The nearby cafe, between the Louvre and the Comedie Francaise,
is adorned, aptly, with these humorous futbol-themed renditions of
great works of art...

Caravaggio would have been proud

Returning to the museum, there has been no movement
in the line, and we resolve to try again another day; just
as we step out onto rue Rivoli, I glance back, the line
is moving, the museum is open!

Vicki and Penelope sprint up the stairs and down the
corridors and are able to see the Mona Lisa practically
alone!

By the time I catch up, the room is beginning to look as always

Moving right along, we look at some other
Leonardo paintings, including those with strange
perspective and framing...

Originally a St. John the Baptist, from a Leonardo
drawing, it was over-painted in the late 17th century
to become a Bacchus...assorted Bacchalian symbols
on view...he seems to be saying "the bar is over there"
(or possibly down there...)

Soon to become a tea towel when I get my Cafe
Press shop going...

Outside, at a terrace cafe, we are enjoying the view and a snack break

Then we are back to serious museum exploration

But before the next break, things were getting crowded, so we 
called it a day

Segue

Rebecca was with us the better part of four days, the main priority of which was delivering Penelope. There were secondary priorities as well, since Rebecca is a seasoned Paris visitor, with her own list of things to see and do. Some food, some shopping, some cultural stuff, most of which we got done in good order. Then it was time for her to take the train on to Amsterdam for several days there with Jeremy and then on to Bruge and Brussels before returning to Paris to pick up the kid. After Rebecca's departure, our attention turned strictly to Penelope.

At a favorite creperie on Charonne in the 11th;
a beautiful salted caramel dessert crepe

Vicki's; I generally pass on the dessert crepe, going
for the Calvados digestif instead; an apple a day...

Moving right along, now, after thr  Pavillons of Bercy, we are
at Galeries Lafayette

T-shirt not bought

Taking Maman to catch her train; attempting again to emulate
Monet's Gare Saint-Lazaire paintings; at Gare du Nord

After some shopping on Rue Vavins with P, a brief stroll in the
park; here, a line of Luxembourg's famous chairs

Luxembourg bee hives

Something other blogs don't show you: the pissoir in the bushes
behind the petanque courts at Luxembourg; dating, presumably, from
the time when boules was not a mixed sport