Scott's Blog: La Fête de St. Vincent

End of January, snow is back in Montmartre, but fortunately we have among other amenities, including our own backyard vineyard…

And, being a Catholic neighborhood with its own church, why not celebrate St. Vincent, patron of vignerons and poissoniers? According to some vignerons chose him because of the suffix "vin" of his name, however it should be noted that supposedly a grape pressing wheel was used to torture him. The cult was initially started in Bourgogne where he is a patron especially to the bourguignon vignerons before the Champagne split. Both regions are close and related.

Au Relais, up Rue Montmartre, the Petits Poulbots defenders of the 'Republique de Montmartre' had already met up and rehearsed last week... They re-assembled and put on their show on Sat....30th

The "République de Montmartre" dates from May, 7th 1921. The society is charitable and cultural and keeps the ideology left by Poulbot, Willette, Forain, Neumont and Joë Bridge. Its charitable work benefits people with disadvantaged childhood or to connect artists.

Traditionally, members wear a red scarf, a cloak and a black hat such as the one worn by Louis Armand Aristide Bruant imortalized by Toulouse-Lautrec. Bruant left his home in 1866 at age fifteen, following his father's death, to find employment. Made his way to Montmartre where he hung out in the working-class bistros. Bougeois by birth, he soon adopted the earthy language of his haunts, turning it into songs that told of the struggles of the poor. Bruant began performing at cafe-concerts and developed a singing and comedy act that led to his being signed to appear at the LetChat Noir. Dressed in a red shirt, black velvet jacket, high boots, and a long red scarf, he soon became a star of Montmartre, and became one of Lautrec's first friends. In 1885, Bruant opened his own Montmartre club, a place he called "Le Mirliton".

So, I like seafood and wine!

All sat/sun, down around Abesses metro, just below the Sacre-coeur, the stands sold fresh oysters, fish including shark, and many, many clams…

The oyster growers had their own representation in stands. The produce wasn't exactly cheap ! 1 Euro the unit!

The oyster industry, traditional in France still exists because of the ‘‘Resur’’ plan, which consisted of massive introductions of a new species, Crassostrea gigas, from the Pacific. After small-scale trials (1966–1970), several hundred tonnes of C. gigas were imported from Canada between 1971 and 1973 to form brood stock. The species became established and in the Marennes-Oleron region. Additionally 10,000 t of spat (young oysters) were imported from Japan. For the complete story check Ifremer.