....since you mention the ³course camarguaise¹,. I should absolutely mention
the ³course landaise² which is done in the Landes, Gers region of
southwestern france (which is exactly where I¹m from) for centuries...The
³course landaise² is done with springy fast young cows with corks on their
horns (meaning they are not there to gore anybody). The Œécarteurs¹
(dodgers) are all in white and the cow is called at one end of the bull
ring...the écarteur comes in the middle and calls the cow who is at the side
and then lunges towards the Œécarteur¹ who avoids the charging cow with a
swing of the hips...almost rugby style. The whole scene is run just like a
bullfight with cuadrillas and prizes and all...there is no blood, no killing
(I say that to appease for 1/2 second - the fears of the politically
correct set among us fans of criminality, noir, mayhem and general bad
stuff) and those cows I refer to are very light, fast and nervous cows and
especially bred for this in specialized Œganaderias¹...This is what Wicky
says at the start of their article
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Course_Landaise) : ³Although young cows are
used instead of bulls the course Landaise is in Gascony a major spectator
sport which can in a way be compared with the steer-wrestling ¹¹games¹¹ in
American rodeos or the Basque tradition of running in front of bulls that
have been let loose in the streets (Bayonne in southern France or in
Pamplona in nothern Spain).It is a traditional game of ¹¹bull¹¹ leaping with
wild young cows. In France mainly seen in the departments Gers and Landes
and also a little in the Gironde, it is an animal friendly game that has
nothing to do with the traditional bullfighting. One needs courage, strength
and agility to participate in this dangerous sport. The men most often have
a few bruises to nurse, while the cows return without any harm to their
luxurious grasslands². All of us kids waited all year for the local feria so
we could spend even two minutes ten feet from the cow with our espadrilled
feet in smelly sawdust and our legs shivering...pure heaven when you¹re
15...and try to cath the rosette which is also one of the events on those
afternoons...
Yes bulls become famous: Islero, the name of bull who killed Manolete in
Linares in 47, is known in the Œlatin¹ world especially....
Montois
On 7/25/08 3:26 PM, "Karin Montin" <kmontin@sympatico.ca> wrote:
After two weeks of nonstop, very loud cicadas in the south of France, I was
looking forward to some good traffic noise in Paris. And I got it.
>
> While in the south, I was lucky enough to see a variety of bullfighting called
> bull racing (la course camarguaise), which does not involve killing the bull
> or even spiking it to get it mad.
>
> It's an extremely popular spectator sport in the Camargue. Every town seemed
> to have an arena. The one in Arles, where I was, dates from Roman times. A
> half-dozen bull runners, athletic young men dressed in white, compete to
> snatch a rosette from between the the bull's horns. They have to run really
> fast to get away and jump out of the arena, over the fence and across the
> corridor separating the bull ring from the stands. Not being a bullfight fan,
> I didn't realize that the bull regularly jumps over the fence, too, or crashes
> through it. It's all very exciting for a short time. Then you start to wonder
> about the poor bull.
>
> Many bulls become famous. According to Wikipedia, some even get lucrative
> product endorsement contracts.
> http://en.wikipedia..org/wiki/Bullfight
> <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bullfight>
>
> On-topicity: All the Camargue bulls are "noir."
>
> At 01:16 PM 25/07/2008, Jean-Pierre Jacquet wrote:
>> >Cicadas are also chirping in here in CT and I'll join you with a glass
>> >of Faugères; and will carry on in Béziers later for the feria.
>> >Speaking of ferias, bullfighting can be pretty noir, but I suspect
>> >rara-avian listeros would have little time for it, so I'll stop right
>> >here.
>> >
>> >On Jul 25, 2008, at 10:18 AM, Steve Novak, aka the Montois of Detroit,
>> wrote:
>> >
>>> >> Cicadas just started chirping in southeast Michigan yesterday for
>>> >> the first
>>> >> time this year after a lot of wet weather...thank god for the
>>> >> wonderful
>>> >> chirping...which brings us here close to Costa-Rica and southwestern
>>> >> France...
>>> >>
>>> >> I¹ll drink to that,
>>> >>
>>> >> ...a noir syrah of course...
>>> >>
>
>
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