Fete Nationale, etc.

I woke up on this morning of France's Fete Nationale feeling anxious and sad about my own country.  Going to see Europe's biggest military parade this morning did not appeal in the least.  Shows of force---military or private, sanctioned or unsanctioned---were the last thing that I wanted to do.  The weather was beautiful, though, so spending the day in the apartment, even if productively working, didn't seem right, either.  

I suggested a visit to the Louvre, which we have not done in a while.  A quick internet search determined that the Louvre was free today, on account of the Fete Nationale, so it did not seem like the right day to go, given that our membership allows us free entrance every day.  

After lunch, I persuaded Glenn to take a walk with me and Sandy.  We walked around the Luxembourg Garden towards Saint Sulpice, our old stomping ground from six years ago.  We passed a military band on the sidewalk, with some individuals practicing and noodling around.  We were a little puzzled because we knew the parade had been this morning, and it seemed as if they were preparing to perform. 

We walked further and encountered barricades, blocked streets, and lots of gendarmes.  This, in fact, is not very unusual in Paris, so we were not surprised.  There is often a protest or an official event that calls for barricades and an overwhelming police presence, for some reason.  But we noticed several people standing on a corner---a bit unusual---so we waited there to see what was up.  

Before long, we figured out that the Olympic torch relay was winding its way through Paris today.  And we reasoned that the band we saw would be playing for it when it came through Luxembourg Gardens.  I'm not sure if I had thought about how many gendarmes might be required to protect a single flame, but, if I did, I would have come with with a drastic underestimate.  Apparently, many, many gendarmes are required.  Here is a fraction of them.  

We waited a bit longer and finally got the (somewhat anticlimactic) payoff of seeing the torch bearer come by, preceded by the requisite commercial interests.

We walked around Luxembourg the other way and managed to see the torch once again as it emerged from the Gardens about 15 minutes later.  (It was not moving very quickly.)  

Luckily, it was not too difficult to distract ourselves for the rest of the day, either.  The finals of the European Football Championships was being played, so we headed out to find a bar where we could grab dinner and a couple of pints, and watch the game.  

We found one in the fifth, not too far from the Pantheon, that had space for us, a festive atmosphere, pizza on the menu, and cheap pints of blonde.  

It was fun watching the game there, but we headed home at half-time.  The game would last until 11pm or longer, and we did not want to miss the Bastille Day fireworks at the Eiffel Tower, that were scheduled to begin at 11pm and that we would be able to see from our apartment.  From our apartment TV, we watched Spain defeat England in an exciting finish!

And I'm glad we did not miss this show.