Bastille Day

Hi - Happy Bastille Day! I took my 4th of July holiday today. Last night Debbie and I went to Place de la Bastille for music and dancing (we didn't do too much dancing, and probably left around 11pm before the party really got going). A few fun things to know - first we arrived to the sound of drums. There was a band playing, but the show was stolen by a group that was dressed in colorful red and white outfits who played just drums. A crowd gathered round them and cheered them on for maybe 10 or 15 minutes while we were there. Then they stopped, took about an hour or so break before starting again. They were popular - the players were both men and women and various ages. I have to ask if there is some significance to it.

Then we hung and listened to the the Jay Murple Memorial band (I think) - a fun combo of jazz and reggae sounds. Some lyrics in English (which sounded strange). The crowed grew and became more animated. There were food and drink stands (and fresh churned ice cream). It was not so crowded that you didn't have any room, which was nice. Just before the band quit playing, we saw a little old man and lady dancing near us - I think they must have been around 80, but they still had it! The big thing tonight is dancing at the Fire Stations. As we returned along rue St Antoine towards our apartment, we encountered a huge line - maybe a few hundred people - I think they were waiting to get into one of the Fire Houses for dancing. I must admit that the firemen in the parade today (right across from us looked pretty tired). Considering all, it was a pretty quiet night in our neighborhood!

This morning, we met Jay and took the metro down to George V stop (which is along the Champs Elysees) to watch the big parade. It was quite crowded, especially getting out of the metro. We didn't have a great vantage point, and in the end we stepped back rather than jam into the front of the crowd. And we learned that most of the marching was done closer to Concorde than where we were. While that was disappointing, we did get to see President Sarkosy drive by us (followed by the horses you see below). We saw military vehicles, fire engines and police motorcycles. We also saw the airplane flyovers, which are always good. We walked back, stopping along the way for coffee and tea. We saw lots of the military who were in the parade - still in their fancy uniforms meeting family or friends. While having coffee, we saw the grand finale of helicopters and sky divers. A memorable time. Tonight, we go again this time to watch fireworks set off from the Eiffel Tower (a special display commemorating 120th anniversary of the tower, I think).