Park Life

It's been a while since my last post because I have been busy enjoying myself.  This is the first year I have been to the Blues Passion Festival in my (now) home town of Cognac and it was amazing. Even though we had a veritable heatwave last week with humid temperatures well above 35°C we still managed to have a great time.

My friend Sally came over from England to visit because we had booked tickets on the Thursday night to see Lenny Kravitz and we spent much of the time she was with us wandering around the centre of town and visiting the Jardin Public where the best part of the festival was taking place with three stages and numerous free concerts during the day.  

Sally in Cognac old town

It's lucky that the park and the town centre is just a five minute walk from my house because being fair I did struggle a bit with the heat (obviously made for more northern climes - although I hate being cold too so what can you do?)

Me looking a bit pink in front of a lovely town house
(I do have feet by the way -
the street was very narrow... apparently!)

So rather than blather on about how brilliant (and hot) it all was here are just a few photos to give you a taster of the week:-

I wish I knew who this band were because the lead singer played a mean harmonica and on such a very hot day (that I won't go on about) just exuded energy and joy.

I loved Benjamin Booker who was the first act on the Thursday night (Lenny Kravitz night).  Benjamin Booker has a really individual voice and style that was so refreshing and the three of them played an impressive variety of instruments.  They might be big one day so click on the link to have a listen.

I did feel a bit sorry for them though because I'm sure that these young performers from New Orleans are used to a slightly more responsive audience but it was hot (I know I've mentioned it again) and most of us were just enjoying a lazy evening sitting on the grass (also I can't speak for anyone else but I was saving my energy for later).  

This was the moment we had been waiting for as Lenny Kravitz and his band were about to appear on the stage (v. exciting!).  I didn't want to take too many photos as it would have spoilt the experience (some people were virtually (and I mean virtually) watching the concert on their video phones!) 

The alarmingly full to bursting amphitheatre in the park!

At one point Lenny Kravitz made his way through the crowd and managed to make it back unscathed (a brave move appreciated by the people at the back... he was surrounded by very big men and much of the crowd were middle aged so I'm guessing it was a calculated risk although he was lucky that Sally wasn't down there!)

With Lenny Kravitz's performance, the brilliant musicians and the magical venue it was truly amazing!. The crowd were good humoured and relaxed and his music took me back to my early twenties and my time living in London.... in fact I can't wait to find out who's playing next year!

The following day (which was the hottest of them all - I nearly died... honestly) we went back to the park to see what was happening and it was hard to believe that the night before all those people were crowded into such a small space.  

The usually sleepy little public park where we often take the dogs for a walk and visit our (ex) ducks will always have a second identity to me now and I consider myself to be very lucky to have such a vibrant little town to call home.