This afternoon, Kaitlyn and I experienced a circus like one you’d have to turn the clock back 100 years to experience in the United States.
My first indication was actually yesterday. We were at the open air market in Uriage when I noticed a cow in the park. Odd. Then I noticed a bull or buffalo or something with giant horns. Then I saw three camels. Just when I thought I was completely losing it, I noticed the circus trucks. The men were driving metal stakes into the ground to put up the tent and while they worked, the animals hung out in the park. Most intriguing, though, was the truck with a big cage in the back. Inside that cage five lions plus three lion cubs. All that stood between me and those giant cats was a flimsy wooden fence that had been put up around the truck to keep you from actually sticking your hand in the cage. I have never stood that close to a lion before. They are huge. I mean, I knew they were big, but I could see their paws and they were huge.
After seeing that, Kaitlyn had to go. Heck, so did I.
A downpour unleashed buckets of water on us while standing in line to get in. Everyone’s reaction was to just push forward to try to stand under the cover where you bought your tickets. So then we were all crowded on the metal steps to a metal landing under a metal cover in a thunderstorm.
Once inside, I was taken by how small the big top was. The ring was set up with a cage around it. Some people (who can read the signs in French) had paid extra to sit in plastic chairs right up against the ring… and the cage. The rest of us (and the Americans) sat in the bleachers. There were just three rows and only along one side of the tent. We were still only maybe 15 feet from the ring at most. I’m a poor judge of distance. Suffice it to say we were very close.
The lions were the first to come out. Three lionesses… and a German shepherd. I kept trying to figure out if that dog was more than a performer. Is he some sort of protector for the lion tamer? The lion closest to us kept licking the bars of the cage and gnawing on it a little. Thankfully, she hadn’t yet chewed her way entirely though it. It looked like it could have been part of an excruciatingly long escape plan. Another of the lionesses appeared less than thrilled to be at work today. She growled at the tamer and hissed and swatted her massive paw at him. I figured that was all part of the act. But if she was acting, she deserves an award. The whip the tamer used scared Kaitlyn. She made me cover her ears like I had at the fireworks last summer. Then she was ok. Along with the whip, he also used a big stick to poke at the cats. Didn’t seem so smart, really. And it also seemed like if PETA ever gets bored picking on KFC, they could hit the circus circuit in France.
Once the lions had finished, the circus company came out and dismantled the cage. It only took a few minutes to get rid of, which makes one question just how much good it would have done if that grumpy lion had decided to charge the crowd. One of the kids moving the cage out of the way had also been the kid who led us to our spots on the bleachers. I felt sorry for him, he had a shiny red headband on. I hoped for his sake he was also a performer. I quickly found out that except for the lion tamer and the woman making very sloppy cotton candy, everyone had at least two jobs in this circus. Good thing for that kid with the headband.
There was an acrobat. She changed costumes several times and had several acts. First, she just came out and got up on a table so we could see her then show us how she could bend over backwards and hold herself up… over and over. I know that has a name; I cannot remember it now. Then she came out as the girl who tossed the extra ball or hoop to the juggler. She showed us that she can hula hoop particularly well. (red headband kid was her assistant for this one) And she also hung from a hoop suspended above the ring (over nothing more than an old carpet) and contorted herself various ways.
The kid with the headband was one of the three who appeared to be teenagers who balanced themselves on chairs.
The ringmaster was also the guy who made the horses, the donkey, the llama and the camel run around the ring, jump over a stick and stand on the little pedestal. While he did that, another guy took over the microphone. I couldn’t understand what either was saying. Plus, anytime he came out with the animals I had to cover Kaitlyn’s ears because she was convinced that all the whips would be as loud as the one for the lions. (they were not)
Those animals were fine, if not a little odd to see jumping sticks. But the three giant snakes they brought out did creep me out. They put them on the carpet on the floor, so I couldn’t really see them. They had a man volunteer from the audience get into the ring and they strung all three serpents around his neck. Then they had a woman volunteer get into the ring. They made her lay down on that smelly carpet. Then they told her to close her eyes… and they stuck one of those giant snakes up her shirt. Nice. She laughed. Heck, c’est la vie.
Kaitlyn liked the clown. He blew an annoying little whistle to communicate. He also used audience volunteers. He seemed to have a much harder time getting anyone to agree to be part of his act. A little odd, since he came on before the snakes did. Anyway, he basically made the two do silly things… like walk funny or dance funny. He made the woman shake her rear end at the audience. Oh, c’est la vie.
During the intermission (which I first thought was the disorganized end of the circus) I broke down and went to the concession stand to buy Kaitlyn some popcorn. Luckily, we were sitting by someone we knew. So at least I could leave Kaitlyn there in the bleachers. After elbowing my way past the French who were trying to cut in line in front of me, I turned around and could not believe what I saw in the ring. Anyone who wanted to could go sit in a chair and hold a lion cub in their lap while Miss Flexibility took a Polaroid. A lion cub. Part of me thought it was the craziest thing I’d ever seen. Another part of me thought it would be an incredible experience to hold a lion! The reasonable part won out. There is no picture of Kaitlyn and me with any lion of any size. At home, Bill told me that the chances that cub would have done something to hurt Kaitlyn were no greater than the chances she’ll hurt herself on these crazy slippery marble floors and steps in the house. It almost makes it worth paying another 20 Euros to go back tomorrow….