So we were in Paris on July 14th, which is a National Holiday in France called Bastille Day. It celebrates the storming of the Bastille Fortress at the beginning of the French Revolution. The downside to having your main Paris day on a holiday is that almost everything is closed--museums, shops, many restaurants, etc. Luckily, Versailles Palace was still open, so we were able to go see that. But we couldn't go to the Louvre because it was closed. It was nice, too, that there was no traffic that day when we did our little bus tour of the city. But the great thing about being in Paris on a holiday is that we get to participate in the festivities.
On Monday evening we went to the Bastille monument, and they were having free concerts. There was also a drum corps that performed and firetwirlers. It was fun to be with the crowds. (And the gendarmes were out en masse).
On Tuesday evening, we went to see the Triumphal Arch on the Champs Elysees. They had put a big flag in the middle of it in celebration of the holiday. In fact, there were flags everywhere--on the buildings and lining the streets. They looked great!
Here's a nice view of the Champs Elysees.
But the absolute best part of the day was the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower that night. How often does one get to watch fireworks at the Eiffel Tower? It was so much fun. I'm pretty sure that 2-3 million of the 12 million people that live in Paris were there with us for the event. We found a pretty good place to watch the display (a little hidden by the trees, but close to the metro so we could escape before the crowds). Here's a little video. The Eiffel Tower is lit up in the center.
Happy Bastille Day to everyone! Being in Paris on Bastille Day was a once-in-lifetime opportunity!
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