You may have wondered why these tall pine trees, stripped of their bottom branches and richly adorned with flags are suddenly springing up all over the Dordogne Perigord. -- It is called the Plantation de Mai, the Mai being the decorated pine tree.
It is an old French custom, sometimes done for a newly married couple or as a housewarming of a newly built home, and now all but extinct except for in the Dordogne Perigord, and in particular, so the locals claim, in the Perigord Noire.
After the recent elections in March, this is the way in which the locals honour their newly elected councillors and mayors -- and a good excuse to have a celebration, a big shindig with food and wine and dancing into the early hours of the morning!
A very tall straight pine tree is cut down, the bottom branches stripped to leave only what appears to be a small pine tree at the top, and then decorated with ribbons, garlands and flags and a special plaque to name the person or persons honoured -- "Honneur à notre élu", "A notre maire", "A notre patron".
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