On Easter Sunday, I wanted to do something special. While searching online, I discovered that the cute town of Villefranche-sur-Conflent was having an Easter event involving paper maché giants!
We arrived with the 1 euro train from Perpignan around 9am and had some time to walk around before the event started. We ambled from the train station up the river to the fortified village. The village is surrounded by a large wall and part of the river with Fort Liberia overlooking it from the nearby hill. We entered through the drawbridge and gate. Walking around, we came upon a mushroom exposition. It was exactly what it sounds like... a display of some mushrooms with a little explanation. After that, we found ourselves in a chocolate shop then a cookie shop, sampling our way through the town. We did some shopping and I got myself some cute new sandals.
We saw some individuals starting to set up their giants. They were very tall hollow figures that someone could stand inside and lift up. Then, they could dance too! Around 10:30, the party was starting. The giants were assembled and people were gathering with their instruments. There were about four sets of giants, always with a man and a woman, accompanied by a band. The bands were varied; most had a drummer and some funny horns that sounded slightly like a kazoo. I noticed that some of the groups were speaking in Spanish or Catalan. I believe this type of event may have evolved from a similar event in Spain.
The giant couples started dancing and spinning along and the parade started. Just as they started going, I noticed an old woman watching from the window. Some others noticed as well, and a group of men decided to offer her a flower. They lifted one up who presented a happy, yellow daisy, the man and old woman exchanged bisous (a kiss on each cheek), and the old woman started crying with tears of joy. She was so touched by a simple act of kindness.
The parade was moving on and everyone walked from one end of the village to the other (in about ten minutes), gathered for a few more minutes, and walked through the town again. All in all, everyone was in a very festive mood. They enjoyed the funny music and dancing. I was enjoying it too! After the festivities were done, we found a cafe to spend our afternoon in. We spent a couple hours enjoying our paninis and sangria and sitting in the sun before returning home by train. Even though it wasn't my typical Easter Sunday, it was fun to be somewhere festive and happy experiencing someone else's traditions.
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| Hello in there! |
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| Villefranche giants getting ready for the day. |
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| Making an effort to share a daisy with this woman. |
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| Bisous. Thank you. |
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| Then there's these tourists taking pictures up the giant's skirt... |
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| Little man walking through town... |
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| Musicians leading the way through town. |
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| Catalan knight at your service. |
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| Drummer boy |
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