La Fete Nationale

The past weekend was Bastille Day, effectively the beginning of the French Revolution. Just like American Independence Day, the French celebrate with parades, although there's are a bit more military in nature, and fireworks. As I mentioned in my last post however, their celebration also includes huge free dance parties put on my local fire houses - one of the best ideas the French have ever had. After a bizarre evening during which four kids from Yale showed up, despite my roommate only having invited one, Katerina and I decided to see what these Firefighters' Balls were all about. Upon arrival at supposedly the "most reputable" of the 8 or so Firefighters' Balls (near the church Saint Sulpice and the Jardin de Luxembourg) we were immediately greeted by a line three to four people wide that snaked along for about two blocks . Figuring this could only be a good sign (along with the thumping music and uniform clad firefighters on crowd control), we decided to wait, and as chance would have it, I ran into the new intern from work, an Irish girl, about mid-way through the line, saving us at least a half an hour of wait time. After about 45 minutes in line, we were finally allowed through the entrance into a large courtyard packed with people, four bars, and a stage. Although the music was surprisingly good (not ALL euro-techno-trash)- it was the staggeringly attractive people - particularly the men - who really made the evening fun: the dancing was great, the people weren't seedy, and everything was run very smoothly and safely (thanks pompiers). Katerina and I were absolutely stunned by the quality of the crowd but upon reflection on our 20 minute walk home at 4 am later that "evening", we decided there was a very reasonable explanation for the handsome crowd. The smart men realize that tons of women (such as Katerina and myself) will likely show up at a dance put on by a firestation with the hopes of running into a few firefighters. However, there will obviously be more women than firefighters, and thus the remaining women will be open to other options. We also each only spend 2.50 euros the entire night, so it was incredibly cheap as well!

After dancing till the wee hours of the morning Friday, we (two roommates and some other Harvard aquaintences) decided to recover on Saturday by having a lovely pic nic at the Place des Voges in Le Marais. We spent about five hours lounging in the shade and feeling truly Parisian as we sipped our cheap red wine, ate tons of chesse and baguettes, and shared fresh fruit from the market. I can't imagine a more pleasant afternoon. In fact, it was so enjoyable that Katerina, Matt and myself (the last of the pic-nicers) lost track of time and didn't get back to the apartment until around 9:30. Then, after eating dinner, we almost completely forgot about the fireworks and only made it out in time to see the finale. Although it would have been nice to see them, I was comforted to learn that even people who made a legtimate effort and went out to the various bridges had a very difficult time seeing them as they were very low.

Despite another late evening chatting with Harvard kids at the apartment, we decided to get up early and go to the market again - now a weekly ritual. Upon returning with our bounty, we realized that the new free city bike system was debuting that day and thus decided to take a bike tour in the afternoon. After spending lunch plotting our potential route and generally getting very excited about the prospect of biking through Paris on a gorgeous summer day, we were extremely disappointed to find out that our U.S. credit cards are not yet accepted at the little stations, so that we were unable to fulfill our grand plan. Not to be deterred however, Katerina and I decided to assuage our disappointment by walking to the Ile Saint Louis and buying ice cream. I had recalled that the Ile was particularly famous for ice cream, and as we walked around, the name Berthillon rang a bell (and the 20 person line concurred). After waiting in line for about 15 minutes and deliberating over flavor options from wild strawberry to salted butter caramel, we were finally allowed to choose our flavors. In true American fashion however, when asked whether we wanted one scoop or two, we both responded "Un quadruple s'il vous plait." Now these weren't exactly Baskin and Robbin's size scoops, so don't get too concerned, but definitely a good amount and allowed us to make fewer difficult flavor choices. The ice cream was absolutely divine and could only have been improved by the absence of the topless, thong-wearing 60 year old woman sun bathing near our bench. After finishing, we proceeded to walk about 8 miles through Paris with stops at a pet market (and a serious consideration of the plausibility of buying and housing a bunny for the summer), Notre Dame, les Jardin des Plantes, and the Pantheon.

Monday through today have not been quite as exciting as the weekend, as my body seems to have decided that I needed to rest, and thus I've been stricken with some sort of mild stomach flu. While the worst of it was Monday evening and Tuesday afternoon, I've still felt weak and achey for the past several days, and thankfully J has been very understanding, allowing me to go home early Tuesday and Wednesday and insisting that I take today off. After sleeping for about 12 hours yesterday, I'm definitely feeling better. Other than the aches and an occasional stomach cramp, my appetite has returned and I have more energy, and I plan to return to work tomorrow, so don't y'all worry about me! I plan a fairly relaxing weekend as well, including time at Paris Plage and possibly attending a midnight Harry Potter party at an English Language bookshop where I've already reserved my copy. Sunday will be spent reading Harry Potter with as little human interaction as possible.