1 May 2012 - 500th Anniversary of Confrerie des Gardians

Yesterday was the 500th Anniversary of the Confrérie des Gardians in Arles with a spectacular open air mass in the arenas.  Most of the team stayed the whole day and saw the Spectacle in the afternoon - a wonderful day for all.  The Confrerie des Gardians is the oldest Confrérie in France.

A few pictures show what it looked like.  Henri Palatre, one of our hosts at base camp is riding one of our horses, Qualitous, who behaved impeccably, standing with all the other horses, patiently, for 2 hours deserves full praise.  He is one of Philippe Michel's horses from the Mas de Layalle.  You can see the hundreds of Arlésiennes all dressed up in traditional costume.  This is a unique part of France where tradition lives on - thankfully !