Spectacle Équestre!

Visits to Paris open the mind to unexpected possibilities.  Even before setting foot on French soil, we had been delightfully surprised on six occasions by the decisions and intentions of dear friends and family to arrange to meet us in Paris.  While in New York, we got to spend cherished time with Mario and Deniz, who drove up from their home in Washington DC for the occasion.  Brother Dan came down from his home in Connecticut, and Brant and Kimi rode the subway in from the Verrazano Narrows end of Brooklyn so we could have a rousing send-off evening together. Tina and Dougie's visit from their home in Scotland was short but filled with a rare combination of nostalgia, renewal, and openings to a new world of future plans.  Now, on the afternoon of our 5th day in Paris, we eagerly looked forward to seeing Annie's good friend Ann-Catrine who, accompanied by her fiancée Clas, was flying in from their home in Helsingborg, Sweden to spend four days here overlapping with our visit.

Our plans for the day had been to visit Cathédral Notre Dame, but on our way to breakfast, we passed the Arène de Lutèce, where a colorful banner proclaimed that there was to be an equestrian spectacle in the afternoon at 3 pm.  Notre Dame has been on the Isle de la Cité since the 12th Century.  Chances were pretty good it would still be there tomorrow, but this afternoon, there would be knights in armor, fair maidens, horses, and joyful French children out for a Sunday afternoon spectacle.  No question where we'd be.

In its heyday, the Arènes de Lutèce was the largest amphitheater outside of Rome, capable of seating 15-17,000 people for spectacles, frequently gladiatorial combats.  With the spread of Christianity, recreational mortal combat lost some of its popular appeal, and over the centuries, as Paris developed, razed, redeveloped, and repeated that sequence many times, the original site of the arena was lost and buried.  It was rediscovered during the late nineteenth Century, excavated and restored in a publicly-funded effort, and it now is used for many public events.

Upon our return from the Guinguette de la MOUFF', Ann-Catrine texted us to say they had safely arrived and were installed in their hotel on Rue Mouffetard.  We arranged to meet at the Arena, where festivities already were underway, and the amphitheater walls were filled with families including children of many ages, particularly those measured in decades.  The four of us found space in the shade, and found ourselves transported into the 12th Century.

 
The Spectacle Équestre offered an afternoon that was part circus, part equestrian precision riding, part medieval morality play, and 100% enchantment.  I'm not even going to try to describe the events; the pictures and clips speak volumes.  Along with the other multitude of children, I was very simply delighted to be there, as were Ann-Catrine and Clas.

There were knights.









There was a king and a fair maiden princess.

There was Launcelot.

There was an Evil Black Knight.


And everywhere there were little French children with eyes wide as saucers.






 
There was not a fire-breathing dragon. There were, however, fire-breathing people:

The picture really doesn't convey the full effect.  Here's a short clip:

The unfolding drama, a true medieval morality play, boiled down to a soap opera plot: Evil knight abducts and imprisons Fair Maiden Princess.  Launcelot frees Princess and is challenged to a joust by Evil Black Night.  EBK unhorses Launcelot, and after a fierce sword battle, forces him to yield.  EBK then uses treachery to defeat the King and crowns himself. Out of nowhere, a tall White Knight in Shining Armor appears, slays EBK, restores the King to his throne, and frees Launcelot.  Lo and behold, when the White Knight in Shining Armor's helmet comes off, it turns out to be the Fair Maiden Princess,who unbeknownst to anyone was an in-your-face equestrian and a bas-ass with a blade.  Launcelot and FMP ride off hand in hand, and they live happily ever after. 

Along the way, there are demonstrations of various Middle Ages skill sets, including picking off target rings with a lance at full gallop, the aforementioned sword fighting, axe fighting, archery, jousting practice with a wicked twirling mace contraption, and, of course, a full on jousting tournament.


Just to give a sense of the equestrian skill and athleticism demonstrated in the course of these events, here are a couple of clips.

Once good had successfully triumphed over evil, the show closed with a series of cossack-style horse riding demonstrations, all performed at a full gallop, and ending with the full company riding hell-for-leather through a wall of flames.  Three times.

Did I mention that the entire show was free?

While throngs of children left to go torment their parents with attempted tricycle acrobatics, we headed back to rest, work on the next day's journal, and then regroup for a very tasty dinner at the Pot de Terre, after which we called it a day.  Tomorrow we'll resume being more conventional visitors, but today was magic.