In January and February, we prefer to stay at home warm. And it takes a good reason to go out in the cold. Fortunately, there is a reason: the carnival. The choice is wide, the Venice carnival, that of Viareggio or a special carnival in Val d'Aosta in the Coumba Freida, the long valley cold that connects the city Aosta to the Great Saint Bernard. There are even nearly ten, on different dates during the months of January and February. This carousel of celebrations started on 6 January in Pont-Saint-Martin, then later Ollemont, Verrès, Valpelline, Doues, Gignod, Etroubles, Bionaz, Saint-Rhémy-en-Bosses, Roisan and Saint-Vincent. A long line of variation on one topic: the passage of Napoleon's fifty thousand soldiers in May 1800 that left a huge impression on the local population.
The masks are called 'landzette' and their uniforms and colourful headgear are full of beads, sequins and mirrors that reflect the light. They carry cardboard or plastic masks and have bells on their belt and a ponytail in their hand to drive away evil spirits.
In a long procession they pass in the various countries to drive away the winter and obtain a good harvest. Groups of colorful figures in fake divided by Napoleon's time: the blacks, symbols of winter, in the head then the white ones, symbols of the good weather and then all the other colors of plants and flowers of the mountains. Very nice to see while you're skiing!
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