Sally Tharpe Rowles ... between here & there: 14 Juillet

Every 14th of July the medieval hilltop town of Cordes Sur Ciel hosts a festival. The celebration has little to do with Bastille Day other than falling on the same national holiday. The festival at Cordes instead celebrates its history & the life of the middle ages.

I had the pleasure of experiencing this festival some twenty years ago & remember being perfectly enchanted by it. The colorful costumes & the reenactment of life in the middle ages in such a beautiful & authentic setting was captivating.

This summer I decide to try the festival again, the first time since that original visit 20 years earlier. A lot has changed in 20 years & tourism has had a lot to do with it. Although now much of the magic has gone & the festivities are much more geared toward tourists, Cordes still remains one of the most beautiful medieval villages in the area & for that reason alone the festival is worth while.

I can never help wondering what life must have been like when these towns were first built & were in their prime. So to see people acting it out is quite an education.

But I would have to say that it was difficult to take photos that did not include medieval men & women talking on cell phones, smoking cigarets or drinking bottled water, not to mention all the other tourists.

But in spite of all the touristy shops & restaurants that have sprung up over the years, one can still feel the haunting presence of the past in Cordes.

The whole community comes out for this festival & enjoys dressing up for this event. Everyone takes part both young & old. The children especially seem to have fun stepping back in time.