Intrepid Travels

A big event for us occurred two days after our arrival in LGM: Robert's 60th birthday! The challenge of planning a celebration when I did not know where we would be or whether we would even be on land, was enormous. In the end, I decided on a surprise that entailed a bus trip to a nearby fishing village, Le Grau du Roi, where we inadvertently stumbled upon a significant event: the annual running of the bulls! To the sound of a brass band, the crowd parted just enough to let the riders through: two riders on white Camargue horses, with a bull skilfully guided between them, a man holding on to the bull's tail, and then the runners coming behind. Over the next 40 minutes, we witnessed three successive 'runs', on each occasion marvelling at the lack of 'ealth and safety measures, other than a few token barriers to prevent the bulls from charging off the track, and an ambulance parked at each end of the route.
Our dinner destination was equally memorable as we were treated to live music performed by three superb guitarists and a beat box player (Pepi) who played and sang a medley of evocative and rhythmical tunes that got both diners and passers by dancing in the street. To Robert's embarrassment, I let it slip that it was his birthday and the band launched into 'Happy Birthday to you' in French, English and then Spanish! As if that wasn't enough, they then insisted that he and another birthday diner (Sophie) dance for us to their music. After a moment's hesitation, Robert decided to just let his hair down and he just danced! I captured it all on video so have a wonderful memento of a very special event.