Marché Artisanale Nocturne et Fête des Belges in Sablet

As I told you in an earlier post, there were no festivities planned to celebrate Bastille Day in our village this year so we took off for the Tarn to see the elderly aunts and uncles and some of the cousins who were spending the holiday at the family farm near Lacaune.

On the way there, we stopped to take pictures of sunflowers in a field we came upon, a picture which won me a prestigious award from Keith at Taste of Garlic blog for The Photo of The Prettiest Girlies Standing in a Field of Sunflowers. I have to admit that wife Shirley and niece Leslie looked very cute in the picture.

After the next weekend which was the Journée du Livre, the annual book fair held in Sablet the third weekend of July every year, flyer's started appearing on parked cars in the village announcing a Marché Artisanale Nocturne - night craft market on the next Thursday night.

That Thursday night, July 21, was also the Fête Nationale des Belges - Belgium National Day which commemorates the day the first king of Belgium took his oath of office in 1831. For some reason I still don't know, our friend Bruno who owns Café des Sports in Sablet didn't do anything special for Bastille Day but he was having a special mussels and fries feast and had hired a band to celebrate the Belgium National Day.

The pictures which follow will give you a small taste of the Marché Artisanale Nocturne et Fête des Belges in Sablet. Early in the afternoon, long tables and chairs were set up near Café des Sports for the diners who would be coming to eat Bruno's mussels and fries.

There were arts and crafts of all kinds on display at booths on the street and square near Café des Sports.

An artist painted while he waited for villagers and tourists to come by and check out his paintings. Guess what, we liked them a lot and we bought three of them. Can you guess which ones?

More crafts on display for sale for use in the home.

There were hand made clothes for sale.

Villagers and tourists wander around the square checking out the items on display.

There was handcrafted food items for sale.

The art and crafts fair was scheduled for 17 00 hours to 22 00 hours. The crowds were somewhat sparse early on but got busier as the evening wore on.

There were soaps and other skin products.

There was a display of items made for the home and garden from slate. We bought a number of stakes that were pre-painted with the name of herbs for our terrace in Sablet. We forgot to buy one for the thyme growing on the terrace so I was happy to see the seller the next morning at the weekly Friday market and got one then.

Still more crafts for sale.

Provencal tablecloths and other items made from Provencal fabrics.

Hand made picture frames.

Meanwhile, the band was warming up for the Fête des Belges mussels and fries feast.

The early arrivals grabbed the best seats.

By the time the sun was set, all the seats at the tables were full of hungry people, eager to eat Bruno's mussels and fries.

A fun evening in Sablet, one of the many festivals we got to experience during our visit to Sablet. I think everyone had a great time. I was happy we got some pretty things for our house from Provence.

Bonne journée mes amis et à très bientôt.