“WELL EVERY PLACE HAS STUPID PEOPLE”: The Pictorial Exhibition of Lyon’s Lovely September 14, 2008 Défilé (October 19th)

Just in case you were wondering, I most definitely have a LOT more pictures and videos of this particularly beloved portion of our lovely trip to Lyon, but I am unable to post them all here (because of the way this particular website has been structured). Therefore, being rather unlike myself, I quickly settled on only displaying the following five photographs of the event. I hope you enjoy them all! The parade was positively magnificent to experience in person.

Here's a fun game to play! I call it, "Where's Wendy?" (and no, it has no relation to "Where's Waldo?"). Within this crowd of people eagerly awaiting the start of the parade are both Wendy, our professor, and Christine, our GA of the trip. If you can point the two of them out to me in any fashion, you'll score a lot of points, and I'll bake you something yummy when I get home, okay? Good luck though! This is tough stuff.



RANDOM FACT: There were 4,500 dancers in the Défilé!



One of the coolest things (I think) was that a lot of the dances performed throughout the parade were openly concerned with exploring political and social issues! For example, one piece clearly explored the controversial topic of abortion, and the piece featured here had a very ecological outlook focusing on treating the environment with reverence. It was definitely something I had never witnessed while living in America, and it made me wonder if America would be able to have such a controversial parade while still maintaining our country's peace.



Each group went all out when it came to their dances! Not only did they wear amazing costumes and crazy-cool makeup, but they also all had absolutely breathtaking props. This photograph is just one example, but I think it's important to point out that some of the props were even more extreme than this! It most definitely was a spectacle to be beheld.



As I said before, the groups dancing in the parade most definitely went "all out." Just look at this picture! That man was dancing on stilts, and he wasn't the only one. A lot of groups had dancers moving around while attempting this fairly daring balancing act. Personally, I could barely believe my eyes! I know I wouldn't have been able to move that well on stilts.

Avec l'Amour,
G