It’s time for another Margo’s Musings. Every few months, instead of an article, I give you a little update about what’s going on in my life and leave you with some links that you can follow if you want to find out more.

Carnival Time

It’s February and the carnival in Nice, France starts next week. The city will be filled with fun and parades for two full weeks!

Every year, the floats have a theme, and this year, the theme is MEDIA.

The illustrations below are designs for just a few of the 16 or so interesting floats that will soon be parading through our city.

The 3 Media Monkeys – Normally, the monkeys represent “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” but in this case, the media monkeys’ motto is “see everything, hear everything, and say everything!”

There are carnival celebrations around the world and I guess each one has its own personality. Nice’s carnival seems to be for the thinking person. Of course, it’s fun and colorful and you can enjoy it even if you don’t understand the idea behind the floats, but every year, there’s a well thought-out theme on which all the floats are based. This year, it’s media.

The floats will cover all forms of media from the 10 Commandments carved into their stone tablets to Twitter, and everything in between. Look for references to radio, newspaper, television, and of course, the internet. And there is always a message, even though I admit I don’t always understand it. It’s often a reference to national or regional events and maybe I just don’t stay current enough.

If you would like to read some of the articles I’ve written about carnival, try these:

• Carnival Kings, Silly Strings, and Blooming Things – A bit of history about the Nice Carnival.
• Carnival Music and Gourds in Nice, France – The 2015 music-themed carnival and what it has to do with gourds.
• Menton, France Celebrates the Lemon – In a city just down the coast from Nice, carnival has morphed into a citrus festival.
• Carnival Time in Venice, Italy – And leaving France behind, there is a completely different type of carnival in Venice.
• Official Nice Carnival site
• Official Lemon Festival site

I hope wherever you are, you can find a bit of carnival joy this month.

What I’m Getting Up To… A Revolutionary New Book

I’m busy working on my next project which is a book on the French Revolution. Curious Histories of the French Revolution will be in the same style as my other two books – Short stories of people and events that make up the big picture.

A French Revolution Teaser

Did you know:

• Marie Antoinette never said, “Let them eat cake” in reference to the starving peasants? Or that her last words were, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that” as she accidentally stepped on the executioner’s toe? Or that she almost escaped to the United States?
• That it was the market women of Paris who marched to Versailles in the rain to get bread and bring the King and his family back to Paris by force?
• That the French calendar was changed during the Revolution? Or that the guillotine was the official means of execution in France until 1981?

I think history is fascinating and I like to find humor in it, but wish me luck with this tough subject – it’s hard to find humor with all those heads rolling around.

And of course, I have written two other books you might like to read while waiting for the new one to come out.

French Holidays & Traditions
Curious Histories of Nice, France

Thinking of Coming to France?

One of my blogging friends might have just what you need.

A French Tour?

If you are looking for a small group tour where you can practice your French language skills, have a look at Girl Gone Gallic’s Travel Tours. Evelyn, a lovely French-American, will help you experience French culture as you travel around Paris, Provence, Cote d’Azur, and Monaco. Go to Girl Gone Gallic’s site to read more.  And read Evelyn’s blog about France too.

A Place to Stay?

If you want to stay in a self-catering gite, Lou Messugo might be what you are looking for. Located in a quiet village, 25 minutes from the Nice airport, it has a pool, and it’s ideally placed to explore the south of France. The owner, Phoebe, is a very interesting English and French speaker who has lived all over the world and knows what you need to be comfortable in a new location. Phoebe also writes a very informative blog (called Lou Messugo like her gite) with information about the local area, among other things.

*Don’t Miss Anything – If you would like to receive an email every time I post an article (2-3 times per month), sign up to follow my blog. You’ll find the button just above my photo. And, of course, you can always leave a comment below. Thank you for reading.

*More Floats – See this page for the rest of the float sketches: 2016 Carnival Floats, Nice, France  All float images are from the 2016 Nice Carnival brochure.

Wishing all of you a wonderful February! I hope you are staying warm and having fun!

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Margo Lestz

Margo has authored seven books and writes mostly about France and England. She has a BA in Liberal Studies with International Emphasis and enjoys travel, languages, history, writing, and experiencing other cultures.

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