gay pride

Saturday was the Paris Gay Pride Parade. I've never been to the one in SF, because I've been out of town the last few years, but I now realize what a tragedy that is. Gay pride, especially in parade form, is great.

My favorite float was the railway workers' float. They were blasting technno music, like every other float. Theirs, however, was periodically interrupted by the chime that precedes PA announcements on the train, the French equivalent of BART's "The doors are closing – please stand clear of the doors." People went NUTS when they heard it. I was kinda proud that I recognized it, and suddenly a little more at home in Paris, like when Nick gives a passerby directions at the beginning of The Great Gatsby.

PS: I was checking on the Inter-Web to make sure I'd got the BART announcement right, and found this list of announcements from subway systems across the world, complete with audio files. Ed, Jeff, you can thank me later.