New Year's à la Bourges

Bonne année et bonne santé to all! It seemed a little strange not watching the ball drop in Times Square this year. About the time everyone back home was passing out kisses and wishing happy new years, I was in bed about an hour away from my alarm going off. Although the celebration here in Bourges didn't include thousands of little light bulbs, it was an experience in itself. Celebrations began that evening with a Baroque parade down the main street. According to my dictionary the word "baroque" refers to a time period in Europe lasting from 1550 to 1700 that is characterized by "rich and sometimes bizarre ornamentation." That description fits the parade to a T. It did not involve floats as we have in the States, but rather was made up of approximately 20 "characters," some of which were on stilts. They were all dressed in rather demonic costumes. They walked up the street, stopping occasionally to put on a show. There was a person in a giant metal ball who did fire-breathing tricks and the others walked around making incomprehensible noises. The parade included the use of many smoke canisters as well. In all, it was a somewhat scary experience that made me think more of a pagan ritual than a celebration of the New Year. But as they say, when in France (Rome)… :o) I've since asked my students for an explanation for the parade but they just look at me like I'm crazy, so who knows.
After the parade there was an international fireworks show that represented four countries: China, Portugal, Spain and, of course, France. Each country presented a 10-minute spectacle that was judged by members of the audience. Each show was done to music chosen by the country and involved the use of one of the old buildings. China started things off with an impressive display of pyrotechnics. Portugal followed. Their fireworks weren't anything special but they had selected music from well-known movies (Indiana Jones, Back to the Future, Star Wars, etc) as their background. Spain was incredible. While the other countries used the building as a backdrop for spinning, colored lights, Spain took a more active approach and used a laser light to outline the different parts of the building (windows, doors, etc) in tune to the music. Well played! France brought up the rear and was rather disappointing considering that they were the host country. The results were announced at midnight with Spain being the winner. Everyone took to the streets where parades of cars drove around the centre ville honking their horns and shouting "Bonne Année." It was an interesting evening but I'm looking forward to getting back to Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve next year.