A bit of a coincidence. On the very day that Britney Spears brings out a new album entitled ‘Circus’ and Take That bring out their new album called ‘The Circus’, guess what arrives in Chalais?
We seem to get a circus here every 12 months or so. They set up on the large car park between us and the Intermarché supermarket and leave their various animals tied to posts alongside our garden.
Anyone who has stayed on a French campsite in the summer months will doubtless be familiar with the small circuses that do the rounds with their performing dog and goat. Well this one appears to be a much more professional show. About four articulated lorries and ten smaller vans with caravans have been busily unloading equipment and a wide assortment of animals.
For a start there are 4 large camels, tethered on the banks of the river, chewing straw and looking very fed up. But more impressive is the huge lion that has been taken on hourly trips around the town. The highly excitable driver gives announcements in French and English about the coming shows whilst the lion just paces about inside his cage.
The plan presumably was that the lion should give a heart-stopping roar every couple of minutes to do his bit for promoting the circus. But he was having none of it. So, instead, they played a recording of a roar over the tannoy system.
It’s not just Britney Spears who has to lip-synch then.