Fete de Vendange; otherwise known as the Harvest Festival...

After having surviving 10 days without Dan in France (he was back in the states for work) and then promptly getting sick upon his return, yesterday was my first day out of the house in about a week. Lucky for me not only was there the weekly Thoiry market going down, but also the Fete de Vendange in Russin, Suisse. This is a festival in honor of the harvest of the grapes that make the wine of this region, and there's plenty on hand to try. So, after getting our weekly goodies at the market and watching the Nebraska/Washington game online, we crossed the border to enjoy some Suisse wine and festivities. We had a bit of a long walk up a swirly, whirly hill, and on the way there were ponies (or are these mules?)...



And donkeys...


And Billy goats....



This one in black and brown was quite feisty and tried to steal my hat everytime I leaned down to pick some weeds to feed to him....




Then Dan found a shortcut (a very steep shortcut!) up to the Fete de Vendange...




And then, voila! We found ourselves right smack in the middle of the fete.


Being that it was beginning to get dark and that it was the last day of the festival, things were starting to shut down, but we still walked around, took in the festivities that were still going on, popped into a cafe for a glass of wine, and explored Russin, as neither of had ever been there before.


[I heart Ratatouille.]










[Party foul.]



[Swoon. Major garden love.]


[It ain't over 'til the marching band leaves...]



We had a great time at the fete and next year I plan on being healthy so we can partake in a greater amount of the festivities. Look out this weekend though - there's another fete in Thoiry AND a beer festival in Russin. Wow Russin, two fetes in two weeks - ce vous hardcore!