Bastille Day fireworks

[wayfaringwordhack]

For the first time ever, I got to see the famed fireworks above Carcassonne on Bastille Day. It's a bit odd that it has taken me this long to see them considering Julien has family in Carcassonne and his mother lives less than an hour away. This year, with our Aussie friends over for a visit and we three Faures about to head to Egypt for 4 years, we decided we had to make it happen.

Just before the fireworks begin, the lights along the Aude are turned out, to better let the walled city have her moment of glory. 

The slate shingles reflect the light, making the turrets pink, then green. Reminded me of when Flora and Merryweather change the color of Aurora's dress in the Disney version of Sleeping Beauty.

The walled medieval city was an absolutely stunning stage for the show. Easy to understand why scads of people--sometimes close to a million (600K+ this year)--travel the world to see it. And the show goes on and on. The bursts of colored light pile up, one atop another, in a crazy crescendo. More than once I thought, "This is it; this is the finale," but the fireworks continued and continued, encouraged, I'm sure, by the enchanted cries of "Encore! Encore!" coming from a certain wee Sprout snuggled on her Manou's lap.

Comments

[karl-ukral.livejournal.com]

Fireworks like the palm forest! Beautiful! :) You could "borrow" the Bastille :)

[mindseas.livejournal.com]

It must have been a splendid sight!

[pjthompson]

Wonderful!

[clarentine]

Oh, I love that the turrets change color! Gorgeous! ::adds to image-library-in-my-head::

[judo100.livejournal.com]

How gorgeous! And it's fun to see the fireworks stopped in mid-explosion like this. You can follow the trails up and out, which is usually swallowed up in all the excitement and light. Thanks!

The stone walls and colored roofs are a spectacular backdrop!

[frigg.livejournal.com]

Beautiful! :)

[khiemtran.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's really spectacular! And what a backdrop!

[cathemery.livejournal.com]

Magnificent!