Vive la République!

Today is Bastille Day! Although most people in France say "le quatorze juillet," (the fourteenth of July), instead. Just like our Fourth. Today is the anniversary of when the citizens of Paris stormed the prison of the Bastille in 1789, which the represents France's independence, but it's a weird kind of independence because it's an independence from the former monarchy... before having another monarchy, and now a democracy. I learned this week in class that there were only seven inmates at the time, that the main reason they stormed the prison was to get the arms locked inside, but it's nonetheless significant.

So today, despite getting in late last night, I woke up at a decent hour to go to the parade. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. First of all, most of the metro stops along the way were closed off, meaning the subway went straight through without stopping and we had to get off at the very end of l'Avenue Champs-Élysées and walk several blocks around a military-secured detour. It was so crowded, everyone trying to push their way to the front of the barriers blocking off the street, and there wasn't even that much to see. Mostly it was a lot of military personnel riding in fancy vehicles - I didn't even get too see the François Hollande (the new president). Bummer. Eventually I heard a marching band playing from somewhere, but didn't see the ghost players anywhere. So I just walked home. It was kind of eerie walking home, actually, because most of the shops were closed and many streets were deserted, save for the Champs-Élysées. Pictures below.

But let me back-track a bit. I've actually had a very relaxing couple of days. Reid and I have spent a lot of time together lately, which has been really really great. We're getting to know each other over glasses of wine and walks in Paris. Last night she came over, we made a great big salad out of cheap produce we'd bought from the market at St. Denis - one of the poorest, most ethnically-mixed areas in the North of Paris - and a nectarine tart, which was delicious. At around 10:30 we finished up and headed out into the night to listen to some jazz. There's the great website, http://www.parisjazzclub.net/fr/accueil/, where you can find all of the jazz concerts that are going on in Paris every night, what time they are and whether or not they're free (obviously an appealing feature).

We decided on Café Laurent - a very swanky place that served expensive drinks, attached to a hotel - to listen to a jazz quartet until midnight. They were wonderful. Listening to the saxophone and base players hammer out "Autumn Leaves," sipping my café déca (decaf coffee), the evening rain outside caught in the yellow street lights, pattering softly against the window, it was hard to keep from smiling. Even if it doesn't exactly feel like summer sometimes (currently, it appears as though the sky has opened up for the floods to come), even if I do miss Oregon, I love it here.

Taken by Reid.