It's February, there's nowhere to park, the hotels are full, so it must be the Lemon Festival! This year's theme is 'Music of the World' and here you see classical music represented by a replica of Menton's beautiful Basilique Saint Michael advertising the Festival of Music which takes place in August outside the Basilica in the Old Town.On the left a violin - and of course everything is made of oranges and lemons.
This is the third year Menton Daily Photo has featured the Fête du Citron and I confess I rather wondered how enthusiastic I'd be. Would it be a case of seen one lemon, seen 'em all? But no, each year I'm surprised, each year there is so much to admire and the floats are so beautifully made. Menton is proud of its Lemon Festival and so am I.
I wrote at length about how the floats are made last year so if you are new to the blog perhaps click on this link to read more and perhaps continue looking at entries from February 2008. Suffice to say massive frames are made and then each lemon and orange is fixed to the frame with a rubber band. These are checked each day and any fruit that is rotting is replaced. Menton, with its micro-climate, is known as the citrus capital of France. Many streets are lined with orange trees and all are currently overflowing with fruit. The fruit for the festival though is imported from Spain.
Tomorrow: Jazz
I love these pictures and remember yours fondly from last year. I hope to attend the Fête du Citron.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing it to us!
Nancy
chaque année j'attends la fête du citron sur ton blog, mais là je suis complètement scotché sur place, c'est magnifique et grandiose. Bravo
ReplyDeleteI remember my sister picking up bitter oranges in the streets, to make marmalade.
ReplyDeleteWow time flies fast. It is lemon festival again. I enjoyed looking at the lemon festival in your previous posts. Looking forward to seeing ths year's festival. :)
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed, February is your lemon days festival with floats that are like something out of Ripley's Believe it or Not. These are stunning and I must say your rubber bands are better than our rubber bands.
ReplyDeleteWhaouuu! c'est magnifique, c'est dommage que je n'est pas le temps d'y aller ... je compte sur toi pour nous faire partager d'autres photo :o)
ReplyDeleteOh, I can just imagine the fragrance of all that citrus. Mmmmmmmm.
ReplyDeleteCan lemonade be far behind?
ReplyDeleteJust stunning!
ReplyDeletewow. I have not heard or seen about such an event. It is an excellent idea and such great images. Arizona has lots of citrus and is known for oranges, grapefruit and lemons. We should mirror this event in Arizona. Enjoy the Lemon Festival.
ReplyDeleteI remember this festival from last year! It's just amazing.
ReplyDeleteI 've been watching Jilly. I find it really stunning. It's the second year I assist to the exhibition on the Jardin Boviès.
ReplyDeleteSo much crowd in the streets ..... More than for summer time !
I taste your Flan de Poisson, today. I'll go back for the whole menu. Thanks for the address.
Catherine, I normally eat the moules at Le Balico. Highly recommended!
ReplyDeleteI find a bit distressing to think that the fruit come from Spain but I love your top photo. It's absolutely stunning.
ReplyDeleteI hope you will get to show us the fruit-laden trees lining the street, that was magic to me, I'd never seen anything like it!
Wow! Great idea! I love it! These works are wonderful! I would like to see all of them:) Thanks for the great photos and information about it! I haven't known about such festival!
ReplyDeleteInteresting bit of culture. Great photos.
ReplyDeletei can imagine how amazing they must look and smell in person. i remember the first time i went to the rose parade in pasadena - i was blown away. even though i have always watched it on televison, seeing it in person and smelling all the wonderful flowers was a treat.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! That is so cool!
ReplyDeleteOh wow, these are fantastic and really works of art! I hope you can feature more of these citrus sculptures — they're amazing!
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Don't forget to vote for the April theme! We get two choices this time, thanks to Elaine. Please help spread the word too.
Wonderful theme to have for the festival, altho the juxtaposition of lemons and music makes me laugh.
ReplyDeleteWe came at the exhibition on the afternoon, and lghy was bad for pictures from far. Too much.
ReplyDeleteI suppose you came in the morning, for this beautiful blue sky to go with oranges and lemons.
Catherine
ReplyDeleteYou are right - I came in the morning for most of the photos but then I came back in the afternoon another day to get ones that didn't work and tried again but mostly by then, the light was bad. The Jardins Bioves are not easy to photograph because during the afternoon all the buildings block the sun on the floats. It's easier in summer when the sun is higher in the sky. I failed with quite a few this year tho and am only putting on the best!