It's Carnaval Time Again.....

Yes, it's that time of the year again.  All of Nice is in costume, the kids are off school, and the parades are in full force.

There are the flower parades: Bataille de Fleurs, and the float parades: The Corso Parade.  We went to the Naval Flower Battle in Villfranche, a parade held on the sea using traditional Mediteranean pointus boats decorated with fresh flowers, then the Corso Parade in Nice.  The Floats in the Corso parade are so massive and whimsical and the atmosphere is so full of fun and life.  This year the theme was "King of Sports", a nod to the 2012 London Olympics and paying tribute to all the competitions of the coming year.  I have a video to edit, but until then here is a photo tour...

The Combat Naval Fleuri...

Lovely little Villefranche sur Mer.

The little boats decorated and getting ready to show off. 

A quick folklore themed street parade...

With parades here it's so intimate that the audience is almost part of the parade.  The kids  can get in there and interact with the parade.  No big ropes and police to push us back here in France.

And they're off....

The boats throw flowers to the audience.

Next...the Corso Parade in Nice... (click link to see a little video or more about the parades)

In costume and ready for fun...

Confetti throwing and silly string spraying is part of the fun.

Our little fairy. 

That was fun!