#49 / Course Camarguaise,
Orgon
From time to time we go to
the Course Camarguaise. It’s not the same as the traditional Spanish Bull fight
with blood and guts and men in silly costumes. It’s better than
that. Instead of killing the poor creature for no reason other than to satisfy
a baying crowd. A team of Rasteteurs and their Tourneurs pit their wits against
a fit, strong and potentially lethal Bull. The Raseteurs (directed by the Tourneurs) have to run about
the arena goading the Bull into chasing them, getting close enough so they are able to cut various attributes like string, red ribbons and small white pom-poms from around the Bulls horns and
head. They do this (without harming the beasts) using hooks which they hold tightly in their hands. To evade
the Bull, the Raseteurs leap over hoardings and clamber up on fencing in front
of the crowds. The arena are small and the spectators get an up close and
personal view of all the action when the Raseteurs leap to safety just
centimeters away.
The crowd and the competitors have the utmost respect for the Bull and for me at least, the power and beauty of these great creatures, so reminiscent of the Minoan Bulls of antiquity, is what draws me back again and again.
P.S I've just been informed that according to local legend, these are the actual descendants of the Minoan Bull
The crowd and the competitors have the utmost respect for the Bull and for me at least, the power and beauty of these great creatures, so reminiscent of the Minoan Bulls of antiquity, is what draws me back again and again.
P.S I've just been informed that according to local legend, these are the actual descendants of the Minoan Bull
.
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