A Whole Lot of Bull

In all of the small towns that I have been to lately, I have noticed signs of bulls. Like “Watch out for bulls!” In Vallabregues I have come across a door and fence that had bulls on them. In Aramon I found some shutters with bulls on them, they are everywhere.



On the day that I decided to explore Vallabregues, I ran into Alan as he was leaving Town Hall. I asked him which way the river was. I was happy that I asked as I was walking in the wrong direction. He walked me to the split in the road with directions that consisted of him pointing straight and then right and with an emphasis of “eh” each time he changed his hand direction. During our short walk to the cross, we passed a bull ring. He explained that they have bulls sometimes and if they have them while I am here, they will take me. I was excited about that!



When Auriane and Anne-Francoise went to the dentist I walked around the town, which had signs to watch out for bulls and statues of bulls. These were much more prominent then the bulls that were painted on the doors and gates of Vallabregues. On the ride home from the dentist I asked Anne-Francoise about the bulls. She told me that there is a specific kind of bull in the south that does not live elsewhere. All of the small towns in the south of France to Spain have a running of the bulls. I thought it was just one crazy town in Spain, little did I know it happened all over! She said that the streets are gated off and the bulls make their way through town. She said that men and men on horses chase the bulls; it is much more of a man’s “sport.”



Anne-Francoise also told me that in the small villages from Easter to summer they have bulls in the bull rings. Now, some of these towns are small…like REALLY small, but each one has a ring (no super market, just a bull ring). Anyway, in the small villages they do not kill the bulls like they do in Spain; they just put roses on the bulls’ horns and try to get them off. It sounds like a silly thing to do, but much better than killing the poor animals. I was informed that in the big cities like Nimes and Avignon they do kill the bulls but they are hoping that this will change as in Spain some new laws have been made against the killing of the animals.

At dinner I found out that there would be a bull event next weekend that I will be attending, I am excited to witness this!