My Nicholas is seeing some troubles in France right now. There is an extremely important regional election happening right now that could make or break his political party, the UMP. The polls are showing that the Communist party is actually leading in several regions and it will be a big battle. In reality this means that the PS (Socialist Party) will win.
Nicholas did not even show up for the last pre-election rally and it is suggested that the party is trying to keep him out of the spotlight. It seems his attempt at reforms are taking a toll on everyone (as I expected, it is very difficult to force change in France).
Added to that, the French just don’t like his style. His romantic inclinations and “bling-bling” nature flies in the face of what a lot of French people deem appropriate behavior for their leader. Poor Nicholas.
Anyway, back to the Fallas Festival. Turns out there is a fascinating festival every year in Valencia, Spain. And apparently it is one of the largest in the world. I had never heard of it, have you? It is the celebration of the final days of winter and the spring equinox which goes back to the Middle Ages. It is said that people did a sort of spring cleaning, throwing old wood and broken items which were used in large bonfires.
“Valencian carpenters used planks of wood to hang their candles on. These planks were known as parots. During the winter, these were needed to provide light for the carpenters to work by. With the coming of the Spring, they were no longer necessary, so they were burned.” (source HolaValencia.net)
The history continues with the parots being decorated and through the years that morphed into papier-mâché figures which are now put up throughout the city of Valencia during the festival. These figures cover all types of personas from political satires (à la Mr. and Mrs. Sarkozy in the photo above), movie and sports stars, you name it.
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