bastille day

ladies love heavy artillery
Originally uploaded by Ffoggy

Bastille Day was fun. We went to watch the military parade on the Champs-Élysées, and had the good fortune to stumble on the end of the parade where all the regiments (or batallions, or brigades, or whatever -- I have trouble with military vocab) were hanging out and getting back on their busses. They were happy to pose for pictures, and Nick and I entertained ourselves for a while getting shots of me with different kinds of French military hats.

That night we walked to the Champ de Mars to see the fireworks, which turned out to be a LONG way. I was determined to get there in time, so I busted out my best immitation of a NY commuter walk for the three mile trek. Nick was impressed -- he described the pace I set as "grueling," and claimed that if we were playing Oregon Trail our oxen would have died somewhere around Napoleon's Tomb. The fireworks were really nice, and the crowd was fun. They applauded like people do at a rock concert -- clapping and yelling during the interludes, and isolated woooo-ing during particularly awesome moments, like the spiral-shaped sparlky explosions (the firework equivalent of guitar solos).

Bastille Day was great, although dissapointingly free of any angry crowds tearing down buildings in the name of freedom. The whole thing made me miss 4th of July, though. Next year, I am SO flying to the east coast and dragging all ya'll out there into to another incredibly stupid and awesome round of tequila flip cup. Mark your calendars, for reals.