The effort which must have gone into preparing the town and the floats was tremendous. The roadsides from the very outskirts of the town to the centre itself were decked with garlands made from ivy and paper flowers. These, plus the paper flower decorations and structures on the floats, must have taken months to prepare and we were thankful that it stayed fine for the day so as not to ruin all the hard work.
Everywhere you looked there were flowers...
After a drive past by four or five Cadillacs, the floats arrived...
The theme appeared to be the forests and wildlife of Sud Touraine...
Creatures of the hunt, and the hunting horn - Note the tiny flowers which were used to create this scene...
The forest on this float was growing so fast it was feared the driver would be completely subsumed before the end of the procession...
There were fairies of all shapes and sizes...
Wild boar...
And beer-drinking toadstools....
In fact, the tractor drivers made good use of the glasses handed to them as they passed the local bar...
It was magnificent! All free; No charge for parking; no vendors of flashing light sticks or glow in the dark bracelets. No ice cream concession or hot dog stand...
There was, however, much to Jean's dismay, a balloon seller......but that's another story!
