When life hands you lemons...

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May 15, 2007

Former SM blogger Apul tipped us off to the fact that Menton, France has a lemon festival every year (this year’s was back in February):

The Lemon Festival is a celebration of all things related to the small yellow fruit.

Menton is the lemon capital of the Cote d’Azur and is very popular with both locals and tourists.

Large constructions and floats that are made mostly of lemons parade down the streets.

Everyday throughout the festival these sculptures can seen around the town and sometimes include popular cartoon characters. [Link]

The theme this year was India:

What might have happened if Shah Jahan’s love for Mumtaz had soured with age…

If I tried to meditate in front of this the thought of lemonade would prevent me from reaching nirvana (and be sacrilegious).

A long hot rikshaw ride across Ahmedabad suddenly seems like it could be made more refreshing.

Photos

POSTED BY abhi @ 9:35 PM

30 comments

1 · The Jolly Bengali on May 15, 2007 9:57 PM · Direct link

I can only imagine how lemony fresh the festival smelled.

2 · Seeker on May 15, 2007 9:58 PM · Direct link

Could I be the first??!!

Wow that is amazing work. The proportions on the Taj are quite pleasant. I've always fancied it hard to make it look right.

3 · Seeker on May 15, 2007 9:59 PM · Direct link

:( *pouting*

4 · All Mixed Up on May 15, 2007 10:00 PM · Direct link

that's really cool!

5 · Blue on May 15, 2007 10:01 PM · Direct link

So... are they singing Nimbooda somewhere (and what would it sound like with French accents)?

6 · Manju on May 15, 2007 10:04 PM · Direct link

Former SM blogger Apul tipped us off

sorry to threadjack, but speaking of former sm bloggers, wasn't there once some guy who went by the name "who is fofitial" or something. whatever became of him?

7 · Nina P on May 15, 2007 10:16 PM · Direct link

Reminds me of the Corn Palace.

8 · Abhi on May 15, 2007 10:17 PM · Direct link

whatever became of him?

Let's just say we hope they never dig up the backyard behind our North Dakota world blogging headquarters.

9 · Manju on May 15, 2007 10:35 PM · Direct link

Let's just say we hope they never dig up the backyard behind our North Dakota world blogging headquarters.

whoa abhi! his disapperence seemed suspicious to me. hope you got rid of the diaper.

10 · bidi on May 16, 2007 2:06 AM · Direct link

thats beautiful

11 · Amrita on May 16, 2007 2:10 AM · Direct link

This is really really coool!! :)

12 · rudie_c on May 16, 2007 3:10 AM · Direct link

When life hands you lemons……..

Indeed the smell would be gorgeous.

Now this may be the area I live in, or my eyes are playing tricks, or me being a foolio, but I am guessing you cannot get orange coloured lemons? Therefore they must have dyed them? (Ask Abhi Anything)

13 · louiecypher on May 16, 2007 3:21 AM · Direct link

They should fashion a lemon Moraji and have him holding a cup of lemony "Moraji Dew"

14 · neel on May 16, 2007 3:35 AM · Direct link

I was in Menton last year. I wish it had been this year instead. I have to say though, that for all it's lemon fame, the lemon pie, a local specialty, was quite uninspiring. I also had the worst Italian food in my life there and it's right on the Italian border!

15 · avishkar on May 16, 2007 7:31 AM · Direct link

they should probably make a model of the ford taurus our family drove on trips growing up..

see, because it was a lemon

oh man i feel the uncle genes comin out in my old age

16 · coach diesel on May 16, 2007 7:39 AM · Direct link

This post puts a smile on my face.
I have come back to these pictures to cheer myself up three times now. Maybe I should quit teaching the urchins and put my art schooling to good use making lemon floats and rickshaws.

17 · www.indiamw.com on May 16, 2007 8:38 AM · Direct link

Random! :)

18 · coffeescoop on May 16, 2007 8:55 AM · Direct link

These are very neat.

I couldn't quite get why there were reproductions of a large pineapple and what looks like a football in the newest "India" pics though. Am I missing something?

19 · bg on May 16, 2007 9:08 AM · Direct link

Abhi,
It was interesting to see the orange Taj Mahal in the pictures considering the news story I read yesterday about pollution causing the beauty to look a bit yellow nowadays.

http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=86453

20 · mr. clean on May 16, 2007 9:10 AM · Direct link

is it just me, or everytime that i see lemons, i think of this...

and see the workers trying to make 'fresh lemonade' with this.

*sigh*

21 · JOAT on May 16, 2007 10:01 AM · Direct link

OMG how super cool. Very nice. I wish I was there.

22 · Msichana on May 16, 2007 10:18 AM · Direct link

I have come back to these pictures to cheer myself up three times now.

I smell better than I can hear and I have come back to this post just to imagine the lemony smell. Though, experience at the Pasadena Rose Parade tells me that there isn't usually much of a scent from the floats. :)

23 · brownieintx on May 16, 2007 11:08 AM · Direct link

You have done a public service for this extremely nauseous pregnant woman. I'll try to visualize a lemon Taj when it starts to get rough today... :-)

24 · Amrita on May 16, 2007 1:51 PM · Direct link

This is really really coool!! :)

Amrita-with-Janaki, I'm the other Amrita, also involved in dance...but without actually dancing...

25 · Amrita on May 16, 2007 1:54 PM · Direct link

whoops,

anyhoo, Abhi, this comes at an interesting moment when the real Taj Mahal is supposed to be getting a mud pack facial. At first I thought it had really turned completely yellow.

26 · ArtHistoryBeti on May 16, 2007 1:54 PM · Direct link

Hmmm. Perhaps choosing to reconstruct the Taj Mahal using citrus fruits is the French way of conceding their claims of being the architects of one of the most beautiful monuments in the world. Yeah, you make your Taj out of lemons, Frenchie. Leave the real Taj to us South Asians.

27 · Rahul on May 17, 2007 6:57 AM · Direct link

I believe this festival is a tribute to that popular Anglo Indian French settler, LeMonde.

28 · Rahul on May 17, 2007 3:46 PM · Direct link

If you love lemons so much, I have a used car I'd like to sell you.

29 · avishkar on May 17, 2007 8:10 PM · Direct link

i have a dumb newbie question. how do you quote other's posts? when i press the "quote" icon, it takes me to the top of the page. do you just have to type in the source code? and if so what is it?

btw, i'm totally down with lemons. but not in my johnnie walker. they get in the way of a conversation that johnnie and i are having, and it's completely private. no lemons or soda allowed.

30 · Abhi on May 17, 2007 8:14 PM · Direct link

i have a dumb newbie question. how do you quote other's posts? when i press the "quote" icon

Check out are FAQ, it answers all.

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