Yesterday was the "Burning of Winter" parade and spectacle. We of course decided to go and see what this was all about. We joined the parade of children and parents to follow an effigy of winter, a box that looked like a large square storm cloud.
Once the cloud got to the Parc du Milan, it went into a marked off area and a man made an announcement and all the children that were holding yellow balloons released them into the sunny skies.
Balloons represent the sun and spring
Then the effigy was doused with gasoline and lit on fire. Children were playing music the whole time and people were huddled around in excitement as they watched winter disappear into ashes.
It was really hot standing here!
After the burning, chocolate and bread was available for anyone who wanted. I thought this meant hot chocolate and bread. Nope. A big crusty piece of bread and a slab of a chocolate bar that was placed on top of it and eaten as a sandwich.
Small child having a gouter
Apparently this is a very classic French gouter. What is a gouter, you ask? A gouter (pronounced goo-tay) is an after school snack that all children in France have at 4pm. What I would have given to have been raised in France and served a chocolate bar on bread for my after school snack. Lucky kids.
Of course I tried it and it was a bit strange biting into a very hard chocolate bar and then soft bread. But, not so strange that I wouldn't have it again ;)
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