Paris Journal 2002

Sorry, I have no photos from Bastille day festivities.  The pics at left were taken mostly on the day before, except for the market pic which comes from a non-market day and the pic of the birds eating out of the girls' hands at Notre Dame -- that was taken on Bastille day.

Yesterday we started celebrating the holiday by making coffee and turning on the TV.   We watched the parade on France 2.  You see so much more this way, and you benefit from the commentators' explanations -- it really is better than going to the Champs Élysées.  Now we realize how much better it is:  yesterday, a crazy young neo-Nazi with a rifle tried to shoot President Chirac.  Parade spectators subdued him until the police arrived -- about 2 or 3 minutes later.  Fortunately, nobody was shot.  I would not want to have to tackle a guy with a rifle.  Good thing we watched the parade in the relative safety of our bedroom.

The parade is a great display of military groups in their best or most interesting uniforms.  This year, a contingent from West Point was included, as well as a group of firemen from the FDNY -- replete with fire trucks.  How did they get those fire trucks from New York to Paris, that's what I want to know.  Who paid for it???   After the parade, Chirac was asked by reporters to explain why outsiders were allowed in the parade.  Chirac explained very tactfully that it was important to show unity with the U.S. in the aftermath of September 11.  I think he was sending a strong message to extremists who would harm Americans.  We are grateful.

President Chirac gave a very long, live interview on France 2 after the parade.   He is impressive.  He spoke eloquently, answering tough questions from three reporters for over an hour.  He had no staff members with him -- no assistance whatsoever.  I know that our president could not come close to matching Chirac's rhetorical and political expertise.  Chirac's French is so perfectly enunciated that we were able to understand him.  For that we are grateful, too.

After hours of celebrating Bastille day with the TV (the first time we've turned the darned thing on since we arrived), we ate salad and went out for a walk.  I mean a really long walk.  We walked from the apartment all the way up the Seine to Notre Dame.  Because of the holiday, the parks and riverfront were loaded with happy people, mostly en famille. 

Around 5:30, we stopped at a café for mineral water and espresso, as one must.   We sat outside and watched dogs play in the park across from the café.  Then we wandered through the busy Latin Quarter and made our way down to the Cluny Métro stop where we took the number 10 line back to our neighborhood. 

Since it was a Sunday and a holiday, we decided we better eat dinner early (7:30 instead of 8) and that we better eat at Le Tipaza, one of the places we were sure would be open on such a day.  Mohamed, the proprietor, recognizes and remembers us now, so we received a nice greeting and a favorite table.  This time, instead of ordering the typical Moroccan fare (couscous, tagines, or grilled meats), we ordered escaloppe de veau (veal scaloppini).  It took a very long time to prepare;  we saw lots of couscous and tagines coming out of the kitchen long before our veal arrived. 

So by the time we left, the place was absolutely packed with people.  Many would be heading up to the Champ de Mars after dinner to watch the fireworks.

It was a cool evening and we have no guests staying with us, so we decided to go home and watch the fireworks from the kitchen window.  They were just lovely.  People in the apartment building across the street were also watching the fireworks from their open French doors.  We opened our French doors and waved at them and said "bon soir!"

This morning, Tom received a big package via FedEx from his publisher.  I worked on the apartment owner's computer, as I promised him I would, and succeeded in getting it to connect to the Internet again.  Now we have two computers working away all day.  

But this evening, we'll try to go out and have more adventures and take more photos so we have something to share with you in another day or so.