“I was Grumpy during the whole event and it was the worst moment of my life!”. You can be sure that when I received this disgusting role, I asked the organizers to change. But you know how they are… they just don’t care. And now they will regret it for sure. It’s time for them to feel my grumpy grumpiness reading my grumpy day in the magical forest.

12′00 – Waking up time. I slept well but all around is calm. It is too calm. I am sure something wrong is going to happen. I can feel it. Looking around… It is still calm. Are we in a ghost town? I was thinking I was here for a party…

13′00 – Brunch time with a sailor and Lady lioness. She should try some local charcuteries. But she is just eating fruits. Really not usual for a predator. There is cheese and bread as if we were working at the mine.The mermaid is also here, smiling to all the guys. What a slut!

14′00 – The sun is too shiny and the sky too blue. It is like we are at the beach but we are in the mountains. Some people are lying on the ground taking sun as they were on the sand. Some others are doing some torture yoga postures. This place is weird.

15′00 -Let’s have a drink with my brother Happy. With alcohol he will be less annoying. Of course, the bar doesn’t have cucumber to put in the gin… It is not a serious organisation. I tell it to the barmaid and she is shocked. After some really long – 5 waiting minutes – we get what we asked for. Really not serious.

16′00 – Time to get my quest. What a surprise! I have to gather all my brothers. A 5/5 for the imagination… We have also to find the imp to get the secret words. Happy is already following me. It will be easy with his smile. Let’s find the others and finish this.

17′00 – The milonga begins with Argentinian folklore. I came for tango, not for chacarera. sigh. Some people are smiling while dancing it. Maybe I can give a try. I dance one to see. It is fine, but it is not tango. People are coming little by little and the milonga can now begin.

18′00 – I am talking with a princess, or the princess is talking to me,. She is talking too much. I know these snobbish girls. They never dance with dwarfs. And she says “let’s dance”. It is a disgrace for her family. A princess should never behave like that. But ok let’s dance.

19′00 – Time to finish this useless quest. We found the imp! He’s dancing. With my brother, we decide to dance around him. We are breaking the tanda and blocking the ronda but who cares. We will get the magic words […] Ok, it is not the imp, it is the devil… We have to find the imp. This stupid creature is hiding somewhere.

Important about the pictures above – Look at the F of Fata Morgana. It is all upside down. I told it to the organizers. The spirit of the forest and other people clearly agreed with me but nothing was done… Shame on you!

20′00 – Milonga is full. We finally found the imp and get the magic words. So many words are missing on the riddle. Dancers are lazy. I am hungry but most of them are just hungry for tango now. Come on, stop dancing.

21′00 – Time for dinner. We are all eating together on the dancefloor. I am sure it will be dirty after. Salad, delicatessen, fish… It is a lot. It is heavy. We try the red wine at the table and offer it to some news friends. They refuse. It is not polite…

22′00 – Chatting with a girl and of course it is snow-white witch. I am really not lucky. I tell her I can’t speak any more with her but she begins to speak about her childhood, some traumas, bad choices in her life. She is good deep down… She is seriously thinking I will trust her ? And I will surely not eat this apple as desert.

23′00 – Resting time. Zzzzzzzz

00′00 – I was quietly taking a nap and I hear tango music from my bed. This DJ is crazy. Seriously? Who put music so loud at midnight ? Just let me put on my clothes and I will calm down this DJ.

01′00 – People are arriving little by little, each one entering with his best outfit. I didn’t know it was this kind of party. A little more and we will think we are at the big wedding party of I don’t know which prince. If you could see all this uncommon couple dancing, you will understand me immediately.

02′00 – It is full now. I don’t know if there are more witches or more princesses. I don’t care, I can dance with both. There are also animals. I can give a try with this cat. Oh no, it is a panther. Help!

03′00 – Time to finish the quest with my brothers. Poor lady… A picture will be better than words.

I am glad I don’t appear on this picture (Sneezy is hiding me). Why ? Because my brothers stopped the night milonga to bring a poor lady in the middle of the dancefloor for a birthday song and a birthday vals. It is just awful.

04′00 – Time for the genius of the lamp to do his show. He stayed too much time jailed that each time he can, he shows off. I am sure he is using his magic to levitate in the air, no other way. Come on, stop clapping, we want to dance now.

05′00 – Opening a new bottle of wine. I think with my new and old friends, we tried all the white wines. We can go for the red now. So easy to drink these local wines. I should bring back some bottles home.

06′00 – Some dancers left. Getting a tanda with Alice, the morning lady, another princess. My body is becoming really slow, too much to drink or too much emotion…

07′00 – No more music. Everything is quite. Cinderella’s stepmother would like to go to eat chicories but it is not the time to eat. Speaking with the last Russian princesses awake and looking at the sun rising upside the mountains is enough. My last words before going to sleep ? Glasses are empty and people are sad. The bar close too early. Blame the French law!

If you read it until the end, so here comes my serious comments about this unique event:

– Nice place, food, drink, weather, music. A good general atmosphere and a big game creating social connections. A lot of contacts outside of the dance.

– An event mixing relaxing activities, tango and treasure hunting. A good balance. If you are just looking to dance, dance and dance again, not for you.

– An impressive Saturday night with many people with costumes. It was just crazy. I never saw that in any other marathon until today.

– A high number of people from Paris creating a local milonga effect. Not easy for foreigner girls to break the first wall.

– A big commitment of the organizers/helpers to create a magical week end. A big clap for this devotion and the time invested. (all extra micro events inside the event)

– Take some extra days and take time to visit the lakes, the waterfalls and the Regional natural park near the venue. Wonderful environment.

Thanks Vinciane for the pictures. You can find the full album here: https://www.facebook.com/vinciane.verguethen/media_set?set=a.10154870443508710.1073741850.521618709&type=3