Bastille Day Preparation and Celebration

We took some time to prepare for the celebration and fireworks tonight. Jim and Janie Maxwell are in Paris and are going to meet us for the event. Kalen and I started by going to rue Cler to buy wine, cheese, and fruits. This is a great shopping street and although some of the shops were closed, we were able to buy enough for the four of us for an event meal.

I was drawn into an olive shop. The shop is at 44, rue de Cler. Azadeh was working in the shop and was very helpful and charming. (I have her email address if you are interesting in renting an apartment in Paris at some time.)

We met the Maxwells in between the planned Metro stop at Ecole Militaire and the next one. Ecole Militaire was closed for the evening. The rumor in the crowd was that you were not allowed to take class into the park. That meant that we had to get creative with the four bottles of wine that we had for dinner. It looked like the thing to do was to purchase large plastic containers of water or cheap soda and use them for the wine. The trash cans (and surrounding area) were piled with empty wine bottles. We decided to go back to the hotel to clean out the bottles of Limonade and fill them with wine. In the room, we started sampling the wine and it turned into an all out feast. Out came the cheese, bagettes, cherries, apricots and plums from the market. We finished the meal in the room, and left for the park.

I've never seen so many people since the time that I spent New Year's Eve in New York's Time Square. It was incredible. We found a nice place in a little side grassy area and sat and chatted. When the fireworks started around 10:30 PM, we jumped up to get a better view. Kalen led the way to the center grassy area for the perfect viewing. My camera did not take the best photos of the tower and the fireworks, but you can google to see what it looks like when you have a good camera and perfect shots. The music and the fireworks were timed and the show was awesome.

At the end, the crowd started moving in 20 directions. We decided to go back to our home street to see if anything was open. We went into Agnes's restaurant, next door to the hotel. We bought water, and a great bottle of wine. The waiter brought the bread. Then we tried to order salads for each of us, BUT Agnes would not stand for it. She came out of the kitchen and gave us a piece of her mind. So, we said that we didn't want food, and that we would finish the wine and move on. This is a picture of Kalen, Janie, and Jim in front of Agnes's restaurant.

Great day, great event, great company.




At the end are all of the extra photos from Rue Cler and the night with Jim and Janie to celebrate Bastille Day.  I am still living in the one set of clothes that I have with me.