Perfection

A newly hatched swallowtail preparing to fly.

On inspection this morning, we decided S's wounds did not warrant trying to find a doctor on the Saturday of a bank holiday weekend. We have an ample stock of gauze pads and Betadine, so he cleaned up his knee and re-bandaged it. He was however reluctant to move, so I went to the market in Lagrasse on my own, returning with more painkillers as well as groceries. The pharmacist had suggested ice, so I slapped a bag of frozen veg on it, later using the contents for our lunchtime stirfry. It did seem to help.

I'd booked tickets for the circus in Narbonne this evening. S didn't want to come to that either, so I went on my own. It was in the open (literally called A Ciel Ouvert) and the forecast was for rain all evening, so I went armed with waterproof and blanket. Not a single drop of rain fell, and it wasn't even cold. The audience was housed on narrow, hard raked benches in two shipping containers and some old gutted caravans forming a ring round a patch of grass, so it wasn't terribly comfortable.  The Cirque Aïtal is two acrobats, two musicians, four hens, three doves, and two Indian runner ducks. The hens spent the entire show pottering around the arena pecking for food, unfazed by the running, shrieks, crashes, smoke from burning straw, and loud brass instruments, and occasionally being picked up to be put on shoulders or heads. The other birds were used more sparingly and popped back into their caravan. 

French rugby player Victor and tiny Finn Kati made a little and large couple. At one point Kati was giving Victor and one of the musicians a yoga lesson. This involved them lying down and her jumping from one to the other, landing on their chests. There were dramatic cracks when she did this, because she'd taken the precaution of getting them to lie on china plates,. Later she sprang into the air, landed on Victor in lotus position, and he levitated her on one hand. There's a video here where you can see how strong and bendy she is -- she's been an acrobat since she was eight. "Hand to hand" acrobats are so impressive. Their kids are in the same mould as they got to do a little turn at the end.