La Fete du Vieux Seynod

La Fete du Vieux Seynod is a charming thing.

It's a celebration of the old ways of life in a Savoyard community.  Full of handsome animals.....

  

and industrious young men keen on keeping what's "artisanal" alive

.

Like apple cider making...

hazelnut and walnut milling, for flour and oil.....

There are strong, handsome animals on parade

and sun-blushed happy, well-behaved young people celebrating their local products

and reminding us how fun it can be when we all pull and push in the same direction.

  
           Guys who've been around and know a thing or two, demonstrating how the right cheery red
                                                    contraption can help the work day go faster.

At the Fete du Vieux Seynod it's hard not to think how nice it is to be out on a sunny day.

in a place where wholesome food 

is still as beautiful as it is plentiful.

One is reminded that there are many ways to do a thing and that handmade often also means very sound and solid (and also beautiful!)

We're reminded that the Postman is our friend.

And that we're stuck with the Maire (Mrs. Mayor, too) whoever he might be.  Love him or not.

We're reminded that it's not just the Basques who wear berets.  And look terribly cute in them.

In the old days, they found ways to have fun.

Even if those ways seem a little quaint and "home-made" to us now.

I thought these horns were a bit cheesy and quaint in the wrong ways, before I heard their beautiful beautiful sound.  A music that will soothe the savage beast.....

But apparently not so soothing to this one.  You may already know the "Vache Qui Rit". This is her cousin, the Vache qui Peed!  And the whole town seemed to want to have a laugh about her accident, the poor thing.  I'm guessing she was missing her cozy barn and green pasture and wasn't so sure about all these people.

At the Fete du Vieux Seynod we're reminded that we need ALL the help we can get to keep order on the farm.

And that there is no proper local fair without Barbes a Papa.  (We call it "cotton candy" in the States.  What do you call it?)

OH the good old days!  Rough, scratchy underwear!

and...... baby horse wrangling!

And wood-turning!  (I have uncles who do this kind of stuff, don't you? )

And other useful stuff like making knives, and knife handles, and attaching them to each other....

They start them early with animal husbandry in Vieux Seynod.  As much now as they did then.  This little guy had known his charges since birth, just six weeks prior.  Just too sweet!  Don't you think?

This post about the Fete du Vieux Seynod was a long one, but I hope you thought it was just as lovely as I did.  These aren't things you get to see everyday.  Well I don't!


**Seynod is just outside Annecy.  "New"Seynod is just one big shopping center!  For better or worse.  The Fete du Vieux Seynod has been taking place every September for quite a few years now.