After battling the crowd at the Défilé Militaire in the morning, we decided to take the afternoon off and just relax at home, before facing our next battle: the crowd of people going to the Eiffel Tower to watch the fireworks. I guess this is karma in action and getting us back. In Vancouver we lived 3 blocks from Kits beach, and could simply walk down to the beach to watch the annual Symphony of Fire or Celebration of Light fireworks competition. Then we would stroll back home, in the sea of people, and stand on our patio and watch the gong show of cars, buses, people, strollers, bikes, taxis, tow trucks, rollerbladers and drunks, all fighting their way up the streets to get out of town. 4-5 hours of people accumulation all trying to leave at the same time.
No such luck here. If we wanted to see the fireworks we had to prepare for battle. So off to the store for some roasted chicken (we don't have an oven), some cheese, wine, bread and the other usuals. We arrived just after 6pm. Yup, it was pretty crowded already. Before the fireworks there was a Johnny Hallyday, and guests, concert. Johnny Hallyday is one of the biggest rock starts in France, but he's from Belgium and lives in Switzerland - go figure! We met up with our friends Thierry and Aurélien for a picnic on a postage stamp size piece of grass. Thank goodness for cells phones otherwise finding eachother in a crowd of 700,000 people simply wouldn't have worked!
Since the sun sets about 45 minutes later in Paris, the fireworks didn't start until about 11pm, but it was worth the wait. It was the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower and the city/country decided to spend a bit more than usual. They actually used the Eiffel Tower as a screen, and projected images onto it spanning the 120 years. They even projected the image of the tower itself, then twisted it and made it jump, so it really looked like it was alive. Amazing!
After the show, karma came back to haunt us again: thousands of people all leaving the area, getting on the roads in cars and buses, on bikes and in the metro. I think we walked about halfway home until we figured it was safe to find a metro that wasn't a sardine can.
Bastille Day in France is the national holiday, to celebrate the French revolution. I hadn't been in Paris for the 14 of July since I was 10 years old and still remember military planes flying down the Champs Elysées with red, white and blue smoke. This year I wasn't disappointed.
We arrived at the Champs Elysées on Tuesday morning with what seemed to be the rest of Paris, but actually managed to find an area that was quite manageable to watch the parade. After going through the security check, who thought our camelback full of water was a great idea, we watched patiently as the dozens of branches of the military and guard services stood at attention, waiting for Président Sarkozy to drive down the Champs.
La Garde Républicaine
Président Nicolas Sarkozy
The défilé militaire, as it's called, starts with the 9 jet fighters roaring down with red, white and blue smokes trails, then a steady barrage of military air planes in perfect formation.
The parade is concluded with another fly by, this time several fleets of helicopters.
Our first Canada Day outside of Canada! Wednesday after work we went to the Canadian Embassy for a party and met some 'new' people. Kim met a girl from her first year residence at Queen's who just moved to Paris with her husband as well. What a small world. Then a bunch of us went to The Great Canadian Pub for a good burger and some beers. Much drinking ensued.......
Well, July 1st was more than just Canada Day for Kim and I in Paris. July 1st we received the keys to our new apartment in the Latin Quarter. Kim is only a 9 minute walk to work (vs 50 minutes transit before). We had a great time the past 4 months living in the suburbs and were fortunate to rent the place we did. But, the whole point of moving to Paris is to be in Paris and experience Parisian life, with all it's plusses and minuses. We are on a main street so it is a bit noisy with the windows open, even at 11pm at night like right now, but we have so many awesome amenities around, like shops, bakeries, 2 pools, squash club, parks and 3 markets. It's been really hot the last few days including 34 degrees today, so the fact that our hot water isn't working isn't a big deal! It should be fixed by tomorrow. Mack and Petra are also staying a few days with us in between their temporary apartment and their 1 month trip to Africa starting tomorrow.
