Bastion Fair Brings Magic to Menton

Just around a month ago, most Sciences Po students in Menton started coming back from their Christmas holidays only to find a noticeable change — a surprise in Bastion. Bright, loud, and food-scented, it offered fluffy teddy bears, wild rides, and any other fair games one could imagine in this crazy small town. If you are currently a Sciences Po student in Menton, chances are you did not miss the fair that took place throughout the month of January, even spilling into the beginning of February.

Disclaimer: this is not an investigative article to uncover the truth hiding behind fairy lights and annoying fair music. I did not get the scam behind the teddy bear games. Nor did I manage to figure out how to win an iMac, a PS5, or whatever it is they offer. I also don’t know how they make some of the best crepes I’ve had in Menton, or how the burgers, fries, sandwiches, churros, and other fair foods tasted so good. But while writing this during the last few days of the fair, I have realized one thing: it’s the magic that does the trick — the ambiance of celebrations, parties, and liveliness that we all so desperately needed. As the campus suffered a brutal Omicron attack, classes for the spring semester officially started, and the post-holiday blues hit, the fair was there to help keep the Mentonese ummah’s spirit high. So, I am simply transmitting the magic of the Menton fair in some personal and not-so-personal highlights of the past weeks. This way we can relate not only to the ups and downs we experienced in this fair, but also observe how crazy this town is.

Let’s start with the first visit: it’s around 5 p.m., already getting dark and chilly (January weather). The fair, however, is at its peak; the crepes are coming out one after the other, hot chocolate is being made in bulk, and the lights are shining bright and colorful. Now, it is your first night in Menton, so you naturally gravitate towards the flashiest diversion in town to see your friends and spend time with them, as they all get back after the Christmas break.

Scene 2: It’s a nice, sunny morning on the Riviera, and, following your New Year’s resolution, you put your trainers on and decide to go on a run. The only difference is that the Bastion area is now occupied by the flashing, noisy fair. So, on your trail by the beach, you have to shuffle through cantinas of food, multiple different stands of games, shooting challenges, and rides.

Scene 3: The January 2022 COVID cluster has been tearing the campus apart and sending a good majority of students into isolation. As you have been getting restless inside your apartment, you decide to put on your KN95 mask and go on a short walk to get some fresh air. Of course, you avoid the fair so as not to transmit the virus to all the locals or visitors that are having fun there. What you realize as you are walking far away from any other people, is that the fair, with the lights and the setup, still beautifully decorates this part of the Cote d’Azur.

Scene 4: The season has started and house parties are being thrown every weekend, so naturally, you get ready, you pre-game, and before you go to the party, you take a stroll around the fair area. Maybe a churro stand is still open, maybe the rides are more fun after a couple of tequila shots. Maybe the lights are just more mesmerizing, creating the club atmosphere that we need since COVID measures are still in effect. The scene continues later as well, before going home and calling it a night, a walk through the – dead at this time – fair of Menton is almost mandatory to get the feels of a summertime festival town.

Scene 5: It’s a regular Wednesday evening, you have finished your fifth or sixth hour of class, but instead of going straight home and under your covers, you and your friends decide to go to the fair, have a crepe, a burger, a beer, some churros, or a slice of pizza, chatting away with your friends. This leaves you feeling like you suddenly escaped your university student reality to go to simpler times.

The next few scenes, however, include some not-so-positive reactions and experiences in the fair. First of all, the scam of the challenges! I interviewed many students, and no one could say that they won a brand-new PlayStation, Macbook, or iPhone. I am fairly certain that the only “wins” we can count are some small furry animals. We should also mention the noise and annoying playlist of four pop songs ON REPEAT for the entirety of the month. Naturally, students that live close to the area were not amused to be waking up to the noise of the fair, hearing people scream through microphones, and getting the same songs stuck in their heads. Lastly, the pirate boat ride going back and forth high into the sky was responsible for some sparse injuries here and there. I know someone that decided to do the ride and ended up flying for most of it, while also falling on their knees and bumping their arms around.

But we should look at the glass as half-full: when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade. The magic of the fair, at least for the Sciences Po students of this town, was that you could visit at any time of the day or night, guaranteed to have a fun time, with some bizarre moments sprinkled in there. Even though it operated in “Menton time,” opening around noon and shutting down around 8 p.m., it was still an experience to walk through at 3 or 8 a.m. It also signaled a second part of the festivities in Menton, beginning just after the Christmas market and right before the Lemon Festival, adding a very warm atmosphere to this town. If you ask most students of this campus whether or not they miss the festival, you are guaranteed to get a positive answer. Because truth be told, when life (or the mayor in this case) gives you a fair, you make magic out of it.