I BEG YOUR PARDON

LOCRONAN 14 JULY 2013

 

 

Every year on the second Sunday of July a Festival is held at Locronan which is a medieval village in the far West of Finistere about 110km from here.

 

There is a parade which they call a Tromenie. Usually it is a Petite Tromenie but every six years they hold a Grande Tromenie. The difference being the distance the Parade walks 2km as opposed to 12km and the number of participents. This year was a Grande Tromenie. They estimated 3000 - 4000 persons had taken part, an all time record. It was a hot sunny day (30 deg plus) and many people are in dark garb often carrying heavy religious relics so by the end of the walk they knew they had taken part!

 

The whole event is a blend of tradition and religion. The parade follows the walk purportedly taken by Saint Ronan an Irish hermit who lived and preached in Locronan in the 5th century.

 

Although it is largely dominated by Catholics, this being a Catholic country, there is a large contingent of Druids. The Druids held sway long before religion came along and, if I understand correctly, paid homage to things rather than a god.

 

At the car park entrance where we paid 3 euros (amazing the lengths some people went to avoid paying!- some walked many kms) we were given a brochure. Both of us took for granted that the heavy orange line shown was the route the procession was to follow. Not so and as a result we spent 6 hours milling around with tourists and wondering what happens next! No one we asked seemed to know. Everyone who did preumably was out there following the walk!

People arriving during lunchtime. Nothing happens in France between 12 and 2pm as its lunchtime. Most of the people here seem kitted out for walking. They knew the routine!

Gathering at the church for the pre walk service.

People in Breton costumes making final adjustments.

The service is over and out they come from the church with all the banners and religious artifacts.

And set off down this street. We didn't realise that in order to get the full benefit of the occasion we were supposed to tag along behind. We weren't dressed appropriately anyway and thought we could take short cuts to get some photo ops along the way - wrong! - we headed off to where we expected to find them according to our map but they had dissapeared.

Here are the Druids doing their thing walking around the structure in the middle of the square. We gather it was a symbolic fertility ceremony. I had a better picture but unfortunately deleted it in an effort to make room for another as the new chip I had brought with me from Australia for the camera didn't work (My camera is obsolete already! Why is it the idiots who brought out chips for new cameras didn't make allowance for old ones - they are identical to look at?!)

A Breton lady left behind to mind one of the Saintly grottos, very kindly posed for these photos. She was adamant we photo her coiffe (Head gear) from side on. The coiffe is different in every village in Brittany and is a very important accessory.

 

The 15th Century Gothic Church surrounded by 16th and 17th century Renaissance buildings. The whole place looks like a film set and in fact has been used for 30 movies including "Tess of the d'Urbervilles"

 

 

Inside the Church.

 

 

A corner of the church square.

 

 

It's 8pm and the procession returns. These people have had a tough time so they have every right to be a bit jaded! 

 

As they pass through the Church doors they reach up and touch what we presume is the casket containing the remains of Saint Ronan. The casket is obviously heavy and the bearers keep interchanging.

A selection of reasons why people take part (from the newspaper):

To reinforce my Breton Identity.
Family Tradition
Pure Religious conviction.
For Locronan (The Town)