Mid-August, the French system is in the middle of the school holidays and is just about starting to think about ‘La Rentrée’ when all French parents breathe a huge sigh of relief and discharge their kiddies back to the 12-hour-a-day care of their teachers. However, during those eight glorious holiday weeks, the circus folk are making the most of this compacted time by moving from town-to-town, night after night, putting on their animal-based shows.
On a sweltering summer afternoon, a rolling convoy of living accommodation, animal cages and logistics hit the town of Magnac-Laval in the Haute-Vienne department of central south-west France. The village is a bit of a bottleneck at the best of times, but when four, 40ft semi-trailers, towing extra 20-foot living vans, arrive in town, you just know things are going to get interesting. The showmen have exemption to tow an extra trailer or two due to grandfather rights bestowed on travelling fairs.
We arrived to find the four main vehicles considerately parked under the trees on and in the Place de Marché, a relatively
