Surprise! Surprise! What is Before My Eyes?

Last night I decided to stay in and just be at home for one night.  It was really nice.  I ended up getting to talk to several friends back home.  Since I didn't go into town last night I decided to go into town today, and low and behold, I picked the perfect time.  I met up with Allison and David at Subway.  We then walked over to Place d'Armes (the mall) in Centre-Ville.  We saw some people in pink and blue outfits, so we just had to see what it was.  It was a mini parade!  It started with a marching band, followed by some people in crazy red and green costumes and then the pink and blue frilly costumes.  The last group also had a little dance they did (video to come).  At the very end there were people in masks handing out St. Nicolas cookies, an ass and St. Nicolas himself.  In France they celebrate St. Nicolas on Dec 6 (tomorrow) and it's kinda a big deal.  He's the patron saint of boys.  Ste. Catherine was already celebrated Nov 25 (Thanksgiving this year) who is the patron saint of girls.  Anyway, it was pretty cool to stumble upon a little piece of home (i.e. parades and costumes) right here in Valenciennes!