Vive la revolution

On Bastille Day we plotted our way to watch the fireworks. We made our way to the Metro; we were prepared to be jammed in but I was not expecting some fellow passenger to push me against the wall till I felt as if I couldn't breathe. I survived and we decided to watch from the Trocadèro, across the river from the Eiffel tower. It is a high vantage point but has some tree blockage. After debating back and forth " should we stay or should we go", we remained. I found out afterward that there was a French pop concert at the Champ de Mars and I am glad we missed that. (James Blunt was the token Americain I guess). The fireworks were lovely; the colors were softer and paler than the ones I am used to in Boston. They did have a sharp citron color firework that I had never seen before. At the staging area for the shooting there was what seemed to be the skeleton of a ferris wheel. It actually was a huge stand for lights that they used for special effects and to hold rings of colored flames. At one point the flames were bright orange and "Ring of Fire" was stuck in my head. I thought of Johnny Cash and June Carter and felt happy.

Digression 1- I read online that Reese Witherspoon who played June in "I Walk the Line" was in Paris watching the very same fireworks.

Digression2-I am not paying an internet cafe to read about Reese Witherspoon; we have internet in the apartment but no TV

The music they boomed to accompany the display was classical not Johnny Cash; something from Carmen, a Mozart piece I think. There was Luciano Pavarotti. Gary made the point that classical music has such drama and makes a perfect accompaniment, building up to a major crescendo

When the display was over, everyone applauded, the lights on the Tower came back and a half-million people needed to get home. We were not planning on getting back on the Metro right away. We knew in which direction we should be walking but could not find our way through the crowd. We walked with the masses up a street that was going in the total opposite direction. I was getting a little cranky but we ended up at the Arc de Triomphe which is a fine detour on Bastille Day. It was 1:00 am and the Champs Elysee was mobbed and hopping. Don't any of these people have to go to work ?

Au revoir. Art and death coming soon.