Saturday, August 22, 2015
Boar hunting season has begun again in the Minervois. The season may be more threatening to humans than the animals hunted, judging from the reaction of the young woman I encountered walking home along the road near the house Beau and I often take, la voie du Pont Casse --the path of the Broken Bridge.
A stocky young woman, her hair in a pony tail, brunette, walking with a small knapsack on her back, smoking a cigarette, she stopped us:
Are you going beyond the bridge? she made a point of asking as she passed me.
I don't know --why? I replied.
It turns out that the hunters and their dogs were out in full force. The hiker (a local), was frightened by the pack of dogs that came rushing down a nearby hill beyond the bridge, towards her, baying at the top of their lungs.
What are they hunting? Rabbits? I pursued.
No, the hunters were hunting wild boar, the only animal that can be hunted this early in the season.
When she told me that I could understand her concern. Any dog that would take on a wild boar is not a house pet.
***
At my gym in Caunes, there is a family of bikers that comes in a few times a week. The mother is a good fifty pounds overweight and an admitted smoker of cigarettes. Her husband is thin as a reed, with straggly and greasy long hair. Their son, who is about fourteen, is already tall and solidly built. They always have their motorcycle jackets or vests on when they come in. The husband seems to come mainly because his wife does, as I have never seen him touch a machine. Their son has recently started coming, and he seems a nice boy.
The family are members of the "Freedom Motorcycle Club", based in the neighboring village, Rieux. They speak the dialect of the Languedoc: ends of words bitten off, lots of slang. In other words, I can barely understand them.
They are trying (or at least two of them are trying) to take up healthier habits, which "Jo", the gym manager, is all for. They are a far cry from his trim physique, but "Jo" wants to help them achieve a healthier lifestyle, so he gives them his full attention when they are there, especially the mother. He is trying to get her to give up smoking, which is an uphill battle.
Each time she shows up he puts her on one of the machines and has her work out a bit. Then he asks her whether she has stopped smoking, or cut down.
She just laughs at him and says "No!" as if he should know better than to ask.
This weekend "Freedom" is having their fifth annual party in Rieux. The poster advertising the event reflects a common sexual fantasy of bikers: An imposing motorcycle takes front and center in the poster, with a long-legged blonde straddling the motorcycle wearing a black leather cap, leather bra and leather shorts , a slightly curving belly adding a note of "realism" to the image. A rock band named "Lust" will play and there will be lots to eat and drink for the three day extravaganza.
A greater contrast to the church bazaar (with which it will overlap tomorrow) could not be imagined.
***
Also overlapping with the church bazaar will be a "vide grenier" to benefit the animal rescue organization of Caunes. It will be held near the donkey farm on the Chemin des Grands Oreilles next to the Carmelite chapel not far from the cemetery.
School beings the week after these events, specifically, Tuesday, September 1. So all the summer's activities are coming to a climax, followed by the wine harvest, which will last about a month. The rain that has appeared every few days has only been a boon to the crop, although vintners have been careful, too, to spray against the mildew that can attack the grapes if hot sun does not immediately follow rain.
The machines used for spraying the vines look like a headless Durga, the Hindu goddess with many arms. They have eight jets which range in size from smaller at the top, to larger at the bottom, a sort of trianglular form. They are made to be driven between the rows of vines, spraying the plants at the top, high middle, low middle and bottom. The smell is definitely that of a mild pesticide, which is just as well, as it allows you to steer clear of the machines when in use. If you are riding behind one of these on the local road, you definitely want to pass them when you have a chance, as they are poky machines that move very slowly.
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