It’s August in France – that means it’s peak festival season.
Monday
Heatwave – After a brief respite on Friday and Saturday, the fourth heatwave of the French summer is expected to peak on August 3rd, though a fifth cannot be ruled out in the first half of the month.
Tuesday
Summer sales – They have been over for a week in much of France, but the summer sales officially end in Corsica on Tuesday.
Thursday
Puppetry in motion – If puppets are your thing, MiMa — the International Festival of Puppet Art, held from August 6th to August 9th in the medieval town of Mirepoix, Ariège — is for you. More details here.
Friday
Travel trouble – Roads watchdog Bison Futé has flagged every weekend of August as having ‘very difficult’ or ‘extremely difficult’ conditions on the country’s roads as holidaymakers head out – and home. Conditions this weekend won’t be as bad as they were on the chassé croisé of July 31st to August 2nd, but traffic conditions are expected to be ‘difficult’ or ‘very difficult’ over the weekend.
Fête de l’Ail Rose – The tiny Tarn village of Lautrec, birthplace of artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, is also the spiritual home of pink garlic (the eponymous ail rose of the fête).
On the first Friday and Saturday in August, it hosts its annual garlic festival. The garlic soup is surprisingly delicious. Details here.
History retold – Between August 7th and 10th, some 6,000 years of history are told from the perspective of the Bridiers site, on which a ruined castle stands, in the Creuse commune of La Souterraine, is told annually in a spectacular show involving hundreds of volunteer performers. Details here.
Sunday
Bicycle Race – The Women’s Tour de France reaches its conclusion in Nice.
