Posted by Loulou on Nov 1, 2016 | 14 comments

I am staying home for toussaint because there are so many little anthros in the streets in black witch hats and I get a bit nervous around them.

Our little cemetery flowered for toussaint

A long weekend here to observe the Day of the Dead, toussaint or All Saints Day on Tuesday, November 2.  Our little ville is teeming with teenagers and little kids, too, because they have a long weekend holiday for this particular celebration and there are flowers everywhere and everyone goes to the cimetière, cemetery, to place fresh flowers on the graves and there are NO parking spaces for anyone!

Flowers for sale in the marché, open market (mama’s shadow pic picking a flower, sort of)

Perhaps I have not told the bittersweet story of our dear departed friend who died very suddenly here in Collioure and took with him a big piece of our lives.  He was retired, and although still married, separated from his wife for some years.  He canoed, he swam, he hiked, he skied, he played tennis, had three motocycles, and Mama and papa rented an apartment in his beautiful big house.  During the time they were there, off and on for four years, beautiful young women came and went as he had an eye for the ladies, but none promised to be permanent.  Still, they ALL showed up at his funeral, all SIX of them, one an actress, one a singer, one a psychologist, and so on, and then, of course his wife and daughter appeared.

As the ceremony went on, his wife asked to read something she had written and a hush fell over the assembled crowd and she said, loud and clear, “To all of you, and of course, ALL OF THE LADIES” in a very loud voice and then she continued to say a few fairly cold words about her hubby and his philandering while the “ladies” tittered among themselves.  Each one thought she was to be the next Mrs, but of course he played his cards close to the vest, as usual.  A grand and feisty character, but much loved by us and many.

Our dear friend, on the right, cross-country skiing at 81!

BUT…she got even.  Mama visits the cimetière here beause it is so lovely and small and always covered with flowers and on the way to her gym class, and on the day of the funeral the grave had not yet been arranged, but several days later, mama found his place and saw that his wife had put possibly the most ugly grave arrangment in all of the cemetery!  There were spikes stiking up for the length of the grave, big, metal spikes, sort of like those futuristic costumes that bad guys wear in comic strips (whatever they are), and mama said that she was shocked at first and then had to laugh at the retribution of his wife (who, by the way, had found true love with another companion, so there!).

Our friend’s grave

The other inhabitants

He was a loveable, if sometimes irritating, character, that’s for sure.  I love the stories mama tells about his antics.  But I suppose that is what Day of the Dead is about–reminiscing about the lives of those who have left us either laughing or crying.  The Day of the Dead is a very special time.  I think of all the lovely kitties we have lost this year and send their families good thoughts.  If I could put out bowls of cream for them all, I would…

And we’ll miss the doggies, too. And the rabbits and hamsters and chickens and geese and ducks and…