Bastille Day

  Yesterday was Bastille Day and Paris celebrated.  I began the day by trying to take my usual Sunday run down the Seine.  There were police everywhere and I was stopped and told I could not go towards Place de la Concorde and the Louvre.  I ran around the Champs de Mars, the park under the Eiffel Tower, and had gates shutting behind me.  The police and military were out in force.

We began the day by walking up to L'Arc de Triomphe to watch the planes.  There is a military parade that goes down the Champs Elysees, but it was too crowded for us.  We did get to see all of the military trucks, rocket launchers, etc., lining the streets.  There is something quite disturbing about seeing a smiling little girl pretending to drive a rocket launcher while her parents snap photos.  This celebration of France is definitely an opportunity to show military might.

 I was too slow on the draw to get the first planes that flew overhead.

 Pierre brought Le Figaro, which told us which planes were flying over when.

 We weren't the only ones watching.

 I tried to get a better photo, but the policemen would not allow me to get behind them and move to the middle of the street.

 We walked home by one of the famous chocolatiers, Patrick Roger's shop. 

This full-sized simian creature was in the window.  If you click on the link, you can see her in all of her glory.  That is a lot of chocolate.

We walked by a restaurant called Le Prunier .  A Bretagne artist Mathurin Méheut designed everything in this restaurant from the mosaic outside to the dishes.  A while ago, Pierre and Sylvia went to an exhibit about this artist at Musée de la Marine.  Pierre recognized the restaurant and Sylvia happened to be wearing the perfect outfit.

 We had our favourite Canadians in Paris over for dinner.  My friend Lori and her family are returning to Ottawa and they will leave a big hole in my Parisian life.  They had us over for dinner soon after we arrived and have taken us under their wing.  Their kids, who are teenagers, have shown infinite patience with our girls and have even provided so much needed babysitting services.  I am grateful for their friendship and so glad that they will be in Ottawa when we return.

 We watched the fireworks from our balcony.  They started at 11:00, so the girls were up late.  It was the first real firework show either of them had ever seen and they were fascinated...and found it very loud.