Le Quatorze Juillet

Even though it’s Sunday evening now, I’ll write two posts for this weekend.  Saturday and Sunday each had their own distinct atmospheres and deserve separate narratives.  So here’s Saturday, July 14^th, le Quatorze Juillet, Bastille Day!

I had intended to see as much as possible of the military parade on the Champs Elysées in the morning.  By the time I woke up, went grocery shopping, and began navigating the familiar M1 metro route, all of the stops near the Champs had been shut down for the event.  It must have been extremely crowded near the parade.  So I got a bit stuck at the Louvre, several blocks and a few police blockades away from my original goal, but I decided to walk around and at least see some of the patriotic crowd, if not the parade itself.  And I did see crowds.  I also lucked into a sort of mini-parade of my own, which I figure was simply the result of moving lots and lots of military vehicles to unusual locations in the city: they have to go back home sometime.  Every half-minute or so something big and armed and camouflaged went zooming past down the street with a little French flag flying from its antenna.  Jeeps, trucks, tank-looking things with wheels instead of treads, a very large gun…and serious, dignified people in fancy uniforms holding onto their hats to keep them from flying away.  I think that counts well enough as a parade.

By the way, Paris may be the very best city in the world for triumphal processions.  The victorious statues and majestic buildings are here all the time, just waiting for the cheering crowds and grand spectacles.  Vive la France!

The parade adventure lasted me until noon or so, and then Kierstin, Linda, and I met downtown and visited Sainte-Chapelle.  It’s quite a small chapel, by European standards, but every inch glows.  This is due in large part to the immense stained-glass windows that cover most of the walls, almost as though the building is a greenhouse instead of a church, a greenhouse that dreamed of being a rainbow when it grew up.  If the Notre Dame cathedral is represented in my memory as a graceful pale statue, Sainte-Chapelle is a warmly-shining jewel.  Well worth the visit.

Kierstin and I rounded off the afternoon with a stroll around the perimeter of Ile-de-la-Cité, which took us through the flower market again, and past the concentration camp memorial.  We spent a few minutes in somber contemplation before the tomb of the unknown deportee.  But the flower market was cheerful as ever, and the crêpe I bought near the St. Michel fountain was quite tasty.  I’d been meaning to try a savory crêpe for a while, so I asked for ham, egg, and cheese, and found the result satisfying.

At six we met the others at the dorms in preparation for our Eiffel Tower fireworks picnic.  It’s been a long time since the iREU students have all been in the same place at the same time.  Actually we didn’t quite manage it yesterday either – Josh was in Italy and Drew had his own plans for the evening – but we came very close in the end.  And there were a few additions in the form of various school friends visiting various iREUers, so it was quite a group.  The original plan to stake out a spot at Trocadero was modified when it became clear that the fireworks were going to be launched from Trocadero, necessitating its closure to the public.  It’s a disappointing thing, being part of the Public.  So instead we headed out towards the Champs du Mars, and wound up with quite a nice picnic-spot off to the side of the Eiffel Tower.  And then we picnicked.  Oh, what a picnic we had.  Chau brought lots of baguettes, and everyone else brought things to spread on them.  Nutella, cookie butter, many types of cheese…let’s see, there were sausages and chips and Mir-bread, and fanstastical Mir-pastries for dessert.  He found something kind of like a croissant, but sweeter.  And shaped like a muffin.  And the size of his head.

And we whiled away the hours until fireworks began at eleven.  The theme for the year was disco, and the music went well with the show.  It was amusing to see a huge disco ball hanging inside the tower.  It was a good show, and it was really cool to be watching fireworks at the Eiffel Tower.  Many, many, many people felt the same way; the crowds were so dense that afterwards we were simply swept along for a few blocks before we could even think about heading in a different direction.  The metro stops were either closed or far too crowded to be a feasible option, so we wound up walking back to Cité Universitaire, about halfway across Paris.  We didn’t get back until a bit before 2:00 am, but thanks to the extraordinary navigational skills of Chau and Linda (and some others who stuck out on their own at various points), we never had a moment of significant uncertainty about our path.  Well done indeed.

So that was Bastille Day in Paris.  Quite a day, quite an adventure, quite a sound sleep that night!