ROOFTOP CATS LEMON EYE VIEW

Bonjour! My name is Philibert and I am delighted to make your aquaintance. As you will have guessed from the greeting I am French. A French cat to be precise. I live in a very pretty French town called Menton, with my five brothers and sisters. I am the eldest and therefore the boss, at least in my own eyes! The others don't always agree with me. I am also handsome, modesty forbids me to say very handsome! My coat is pale cream with a touch of ginger. Due to pure breeds somewhere in my ancestry, I have slightly slanted blue eyes.
Menton is well worth a visit. It is situated in the South of France, sandwiched between the sea and the mountains, a mere flick of a cat's tail from the Italian Border.
We live in an apartment with our owner Mimi. She is a happy, easy-going person and our home is cat-friendly from every point of view. One of the best aspects is that the apartment is situated just under the rooftops and we have easy access to what is a pure delight to any cat. You can go wherever you want all along the rooftops, where all kinds of adventures are possible. But I digress.
I was telling you about our town. One of the best events from the point of view of a rooftop perching cat is the Lemon Festival. This occurs every February, a beautiful month, when the chick-yellow mimosas are in bloom on the surrounding hills. The weather is usually mild. One feels so good with sun warmed fur! Our apartment, and the roofs above it, overlooks the central gardens where the festival is held. In other words, we have ringside seats to watch all that takes place there for two whole weeks. In fact the festival fills the whole town, but by carefully selecting our rooftops we don't miss a thing.
The preparations for such a great annual event start many months beforehand. Every year a theme is chosen that will appeal to all age groups. Hundreds of people are involved and I know most of them by sight. That way I know exactly how things are progressing. I have a good friend among the wire frame makers. They are among the most important as they create the metal structures that will represent the figures of the chosen theme. One year the theme was an animal one and I am sure they used me as a model! But the size they chose for the mice!!
I know that things are getting closer when the gardens underneath us are closed off with gigantic palisades. The metal structures are then threaded with thousands of elastic bands. Then the oranges and lemons are delivered and they are placed in the elastic bands and very quickly we can see the shape of the figures appear. This festival is the only one of its kind in the world. More excitement is to follow! We then change roofs. The Lemon Festival coincides with the carnival season which means floats and processions. The theme in the gardens is repeated on the floats. What we love best of all are the marching bands. They come from all over the world. Everyone competes to make the most attractive sounds, and rhythms. The famous flag throwers from nearby Italy are firm favourites.

For night owls like us the evening carnival processions, there are two of them, are a special treat. We creep to the edge of the roof so as not to miss a second of the huge display of fireworks that ends each evening. The twinkling lights of Menton's beautiful bay make a magical background, and from where we are we can see the lights of the Italian Riviera.
Mostly the weather is fine for the whole two weeks, days filled with sunshine, cloudless skies and mild temperatures. On rare occasions winter reminds us of its presence and the whole festival is dusted with a sprinkling of snow. At times like these I curl up next to the warm chimneys that pepper my neighbourhood. Believe me I know them all!!

Copyright Jacqueline Hastings 2009