The King of Media

Last night I went to the official Carnaval (Mardi Gras) parade in Nice – it was a fun experience! Huge bleachers are set up for viewers who purchase tickets in advance. It was mostly a parade of floats but there were a few small bands and plenty of lovely young women. I only saw about an hour – it began at 9:00 p.m. and lasted quite a while!

The theme of the parade this year is “King of the Media.” I no doubt missed a lot of the meaning of the floats that French people would understand. The floats seemed to be ridiculing greed and the modern media. For example, the lead float, the “King” was a jester. The Queen’s skirt was made of magazine covers. Other floats and giant balloons were obviously recycled from other years and I didn’t understand their meaning at all. The characters on the floats are beautifully made. Here, with brief explanations, are a very few of the 100+ photos I took.

A small part of the crowd waiting for the fun to begin. (My camera didn’t always handle color well in the darkness.)

The Queen — notice the cell phone coming out of the top of her head,

The first band in the parade was from tiny Kotor, Montenegro. One of my favorite places, Kotor is not very close to Nice. This was one of a few tiny marching bands from far away. Another was from South Korea.

There were many things for children, including this float of Toy Story characters. In addition to Woody they had a number of his favorite toys — but Buzz Lightyear was missing.

To me, this was the strangest float of all. It featured at the front Muammar Gaddafi and an American astronaut, in the center a very large General DeGaulle, and at that rear Moses (or God) with the Ten Commandments. A prize to the person who can explain that!

A very large dinosaur!

There were a number of dancing girls without many clothes.

Before the parade began I had a chance to see the sunset at the nearby Mediterranean beach.

Today I’m off to the afternoon Flower Parade — it is isn’t rained out. Remember, if you want to see a larger version of any of these photos you can simply click on the picture and it will open in a new window.

Libbie