Quick Trip to Paris for Bastille Day

Months ago, I realized that our team wouldn't have a big group of summer interns here for Bastille Day, especially due to the fact that by the time Bastille Day would arrive, I'd be the only one on the team left.  The idea of going to the fireworks show without a big group of people seemed sad to me, and I didn't want Bastille Day to be sad.  It's my favorite day of the year in France.  Who better to spend it with than the Superheroes in Paris, then?  Since they needed to talk with me about some work stuff anyway, we just planned for me to have those talks in person instead of over Skype, and I booked my ticket.  I was so glad I did.  During moving week, it gave me something positive to look forward to.  

Look who greeted me at the train station!  Sweet Kirbiegirl, it was so good to be reunited after almost a year.

The Superheroes had just finished their required year out of France (I hate that our years don't line up), so it'd been over a year since I'd seen them.  For all the years I've known them, they've always lived in the suburbs of Paris.  But now that their kids are all off to school, they got rid of their house and are looking for an apartment in the city.  It was my first time to be staying in Paris and get to stay IN Paris, instead of just outside the main city limits.  I loved walking by this skinny building with its art nouveau cafe on the ground floor every day.

On my first day, we went straight away to get felafel, my favorite thing to eat in Paris.  If I can only have one meal there, that's what I want.  The funny thing was, that day I was really craving hummus and harissa (the latter being a spicy pepper tapenade).  So I didn't get my normal order of a felafel sandwich, but order the Dixie Plate instead: a plate of hummus with several felafel balls.  And then I just dumped a whole bunch of the harissa in the middle and went to town on that with some pita bread.  Yum.  I know I'm about to move to the part of the world where this kind of food is normal, but I'm still happy to be eating the French version now before I leave.

Next, we headed over to Shakespeare and Company (the famous English bookshop just across from Notre Dame), where we sat and listened to this angel from heaven play the piano for at least an hour.  It was one of the happiest, most magical moments I've ever had in Paris.  Pure bliss.

The next day, I took the Biz to the Harry Potter exhibit.  It didn't have as much stuff as what I saw last October, but it was still super fun.

It also had some interactive things that the one in London didn't have.  For example, the baby mandrakes really were squealing (you could hear them several rooms away), and they let you pull them up to be replanted.  The Biz had to cover her ears when I replanted mine...

We got to play Quidditch!  That was fun.  It was fun watching all the kids play too.  There was a Sorting Hat that sorted kids into their houses.  You could sit in Hagrid's big armchair.  And they had wands for us to shoot as well.  Fun times.

Later that day, Mrs. Superhero and I went for my favorite walk along the Seine.  We stopped in the Tuileries and just sat here for a good long while talking and watching the gorgeous clouds.  We found some awesome little pizza stand on the banks of the Seine that the tourists didn't seem to know about and had a delish cheap dinner.  It was such a good day.

This part of the Samaritaine was always under scaffolding.  I love it.  So pretty.  I mean, really, all of Paris is so pretty.  It never gets old.

We saw a practice run for the parade the next day, and got this close to the horses.  Good thing, because we weren't that close at the parade!

Because the Superheroes have always lived outside of the city, they wanted to take this summer's opportunity of being so close to get up early and get in line to see the Bastille Day parade.  We arrived at 8am and already were about 5 rows of people back from the Champs Elysées.  We stood, waiting, forever.

And ever.

And ever.

It was lame.  The waiting.  And it went on forever.

Then, after two + hours the President of the Republic went by standing on a Jeep.  I saw him.  I just didn't take a photo. Oh well.

Then one troop with funny hats went by.  And another troop with different funny hats went by.  And another.  And another.  The only interesting thing was the hats.

After all the troops had gone by with their hats, the one cool part began.  (We'd now been standing still in the same exact spot for over three hours.  Try that sometime.  It lowers the coolness factor of whatever you're standing to see.)  The flyover began with the fighter jets shooting the colors of the Republic.  That's cool.

There they go.

This was cool.  They were so close over our heads.  And it seemed silent as they went over the Arc de Triomphe, and then, about the time they were over the lamppost in front of us, a sudden roar, and then they were gone.  55 different planes went.  Only the first set had the colors.  Some tanks went by.  Then, some guys parachuted and landed in front of the president and it was over.  I gotta say--I won't go to the parade again.  Not quite worth standing for four hours.  At least in the Tour de France, you get free stuff from the Caravan's floats as they pass by.

We went home and took some naps, and then headed back out to go to the Eiffel Tower for the firework show.  We'd learned from previous experience and had an exit strategy.  We arrived around six o'clock, and the Champs de Mars (the big grassy field in front of the Tower) was already mostly full, and so we weren't all able to sit together.  We sat for about five hours (better than standing for five hours), playing games, eating, reading, and talking.  While I don't love crowds, I really do love this one on this one day.  Here's me and Mrs. Superhero having a great time.

The show began at 11pm.  I tell you what--the French really know how to do fireworks.

I actually didn't take that many photos because I knew I had good ones from 2011 (click HERE).  If I can figure out how to upload a video from my phone, I'll put the one of the finale.  It was pretty awesome.

The last day, we sat in my park again and read and talked.  I bought some macarons.  We had lunch at a cute little Frenchy salad place where there were no tourists, and it was just lovely.  Stumbled upon some awesome Russian musicians in the metro who were so good I gave them some money.  It was just, all in all, a great quick Paris trip.  And a good way to begin the end of my time in France.  I headed back south with one week left to go.