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I visted Paris for Bastille day
(July 14th), which celebrates the
French Revolution, when in 1789
the people of Paris stormed the
prison and freed the prisoners.
There were only seven at the time,
including the Marquis de Sade. If
you are interested, you can recieve
a weekly prison letter from the
Marquis himself.
Of course, I celebrated Bastille
day in my own way. By eating French
food!
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Michaela cooked a wonderful potato
cheese casserole for lunch.
What is it called in French?
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I had a lovely spicy blood sausage
called Boudin Antillais. I know it
probably looks a bit disgusting,
but trust me, it's really quite
delicious.
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I also learned the best way to crack
a walnut. It's simple, just slide a
knife in the top and twist!
By the way, the excellent knife in the
photo is a typically French Laguiole.
You can tell by the bee on the handle.
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In the afternoon, Cyril, David, and I
played the classic French game of pétanque,
or boules. The game is simple and requires
little equipment. Just 3 steel balls per
player, and a small target ball. The object
is to throw your balls closest to the
target. Who ever has the closest ball scores
a point. Simple!
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Of course, it isn't always so simple to tell
who is closest. That's why it's handy to
bring a measuring tape along.
I must admit, I was not very good at this
game. But look out David and Cyril, I'm
practicing and I'll beat you both next time!
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I would especially like to thank Pascal
and Marie. They let me stay at their lovely
new apartment in the suburbs of Paris.
Here is Pascal with 2 giant bottles of
alcohol, Martini and Ricard. He looks
happy doesn't he?
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Pascal was nice enough to invite us
all to a barbeque at his parent's
house. They live in a picturesque
village about an hour outside of
Paris. We all ate a LOT of wonderful
food and had a great time.
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After a few hours, Pascal's father broke
out a bottle of the good ol' Perrier. But,
it wasn't filled with spring water, but
home-brew (schapps in German). It burns
a bit more than water going down, so
watch out!
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Another cool thing we did was to
go Go-Karting with of David's
relatives.
I have the race results somewhere
and will post them when I find
them.
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It wouldn't be Bastille day without a parade.
These are the Paris firemen marching down
the Champs-Elysées, always popular with the
spectators.
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This is the head of a French tank battalion.
I didn't notice the Italian target logo on
the sign in the background until much later.
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Parades are always very crowded.
These ladies brought their own
periscopes.
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But these people were even more
creative. They watched the parade
in the slanted glass of this
store window.
Can you spot the American
tourist in this picture? ^_^
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In the evening on July 14th there
are fireworks at the Eiffel Tower
(just like the 4th of July in the
States). Everyone was grumbling
because the show was late in
starting. Then someone announced
on the PA system that the
entertainment workers union was
striking.
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But after a while the fireworks
started after all. And they were
beautiful, definately worth waiting
for.
A perfect end to a trip to Paris.
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