Mardi Gras

the next morning we got a big breakfast and they had pain-au-chocolat so i ate a lot of food. we went to another cathedral but this one i wasnt allowed to take pictures inside of but it had the most increidble stain-glass window ever that i am in love with and i willll find a picture of somehow. [note- i just spent a really long amount of time trying to find a picture and apparently one does not exist- apparently no one else in the whole world cares about this window as much as i do. i am really quite upset about it. i shouldve just broken the law and taken a picture!!!! stupid. stupid.]
anyways the most important thing about this cathedral is that it is home to the famous Van Eyck Triptych. let me tell you, it is soooooooo increidble. i am obbsesed with it now. it was freaking HUGE and overwhelming and beautiful. we spent a long time looking at it.

welllll that part doesnt really have anyhting to do with Mardi Gras-- its just how we spent Mardi Gras Morning. afterwards we drove to our little parade town for The Big Celebration.

Okay, so apparently this tiny town has a hugely famous parade for mardi gras every year so of course we went to it- thats why we were there yeah. it was cloudy and rainy and cold and icky. i was pretty upset about all that. so we walked around back and forth and back and forth down the center of town which was not large at all and we basically had it memorized after less than a half hour and we had tons of time to kill since we were hours early so we spent time eating french fries and getting wet and going into the bars and watching people being drunk and we danced and little kids threw confetti all over us an everything and everywhere. at this point that was my favorite part [bseides the french fies with maoynaise] the fact that there was cOnfetti alllllll over and it was beautiful and pretty and stuck to the cobblestones b/c everything was wet. how festive.
anywyas the woman selling some yellow flowers that husbands are supposed to buy for their wives told us that the town's folklore [which everyone strongly believes and says is 100% true] is that the moment the parade begins---- the sun comes out. yeah that was idelistic if you ask me. i thought it was a cute idea. but did not believe itwould happen. BUT ohmygosh. at exactl 3:30 on the nose, THE SUN BROKE THROUGH AND IT DIDNT RAIN ANYMORE. i pretty much took it as a sign. holy crap i freaked out. and was sooooo happy that it was true. they say they are the True Village and Blessed by God and stuff and now i totally agree and want to live there b/c man it was frreaky. it was crazy. they say the sun comes outlike that every single year! [how 'Truman Show'.] i called it the Mardi Gras Miracle. hah. and the even weirder thing is that it started raining again within minutes of the parade ending...... ahhhhh