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Jazz Music + Boat Culture – Les Rendez-vous de l’Erdre 2016 in Nantes

Last weekend of August, last weekend of hot weather, last weekend of freedom for most people… in pure French fashion, we decided to run away from responsibilities. At 8 p.m., we walked down the Cours des Cinquante Otages to check out The Rendez-vous de l’Erdre, a large annual jazz festival that takes place on the banks of the Erdre river.

I didn’t know what to expect, I didn’t even know if the festival was free. It was, which is always a nice surprise. Despite the impressive police presence (about ten small vans stationed at the entrance), we got in easily. Past the security checkpoint, the crowd was friendly and relaxed, another good surprise considering the recent terrorist attacks in France and elsewhere. I’m glad to see that French aren’t over-paranoid and still enjoy outdoor gatherings.

“I’m not queuing for food”, Feng announced as we walked by the many food stalls with impressive lineups of people waiting for creole cod beignets, crêpes, Indian samosas, oven-baked bread or oysters. French take food seriously and it smelled delicious, much better than the usual street food fare.

“Oh wait… I want churros.”

So Feng doesn’t queue for anything BUT churros. I found the oven-baked bread tempting, but the lineup was huge and dinner was ready at home so we skipped it.

We kept on walking along the river, where various concerts were staged on a string of barges. All kinds of jazz music were represented: traditional, electro-jazz, blues, modern jazz, etc. I don’t know much about jazz music but I do find it interesting and the scenery was very nice—a cool sunset, old boats, the river…

Suddenly, the weather got cooler and we all realized how late it was and how tired we were.

Time to head home. Still, it was a nice way to say goodbye to the carefree summer atmosphere.

Police cars for security approaching the event
Police cars for security approaching the event
Four of us
Four of us
Poster for Breton language classes
Poster for Breton language classes
Along the Erdre River
Along the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Poster annoucing a protest for the independence of Brittany
Poster annoucing a protest for the independence of Brittany
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
My parents and Mark
My parents and Mark
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
Mark and his French ham-and-cheese sandwich
Mark and his French ham-and-cheese sandwich
Feng and his churros
Feng and his churros
Food stalls along the Erdre
Food stalls along the Erdre
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Band playing on the Erdre River
Crowd along the Erdre River
Crowd along the Erdre River
Boats on the Erdre River
Boats on the Erdre River
The Erdre River
Musicians along the Erdre
Musicians along the Erdre
Musicians along the Erdre
Musicians along the Erdre
Blues singer along the Erdre
Blues singer along the Erdre
The audience along the Erdre
The audience along the Erdre
Blurred festival lights
Blurred festival lights
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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