LIZ SAYS:It was what we call Bastille Day, the French call Independence Day and the Eiffel Tower's birthday. Someone thought that called for a party.
We woke up to the quietest day we had ever seen in Paris. No beeping car horns, no beebahing sirens, hardly anyone on the street.
The day started off with a parade. A Parisien in the know said the best place to be for the parade is on my sofa, in front of the TV. Who knew the fly over would include the air space right over us!
So, we watched the fantastic uniforms on TV alternating with taking photos out on the balcony of the planes that were flying over. Dick and I were coordinating their arrival by the TV. It was great fun.
I don't remember many military parades in the US, but they are fun to watch here. Maybe it is because the french have such great uniforms. One group in tan had lavender hats, and there were groups with red and white feathers on the fronts of the hats, mini-Napoleon style hats and the Indian army also marched in fabulous red and gold.
There were hundreds of thousands of spectators.
So, the photos are of the skies over my neighborhood.
At night there were even bigger events, with the Eiffel Tower's 125th birthday being the biggest bang.
The fireworks were almost overkill, they went on for a half an hour. They did not start out small and the smoke was thick after awhile. It was kind of eerie after nine eleven. There were 4 false climaxes. It was all too much. At the end I felt sorry for the Tower, it looked so tired.
The middle of the day was spent studying french, strolling down by river and loving the breezy sunniness.
The thing we realized is next year, we have to figure out where to be to see the fireworks without the other hundreds of thousands who are all figuring out where to see the fireworks without the other hundreds of thousands who . . .
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