I guess no one likes movie reviews eh? =). Anyways, for most of you it must've been an ordinary day today but for the French (and the tourists, and the folks at the Google doodle center, the guys who draw the Google logo differently on national holidays) it was le 14 Juillet, "Bastille Day", when peasants stormed the notorious royal fortress at Bastille on July 14, 1789, as a revolt against the Ancien Régime. (Note none of that came out my mind)

Champs Elysées was incredibly crowded. Either the French government airlifted every foreign tourist around France and flew them into Paris, or all the French people came back from their islands just to celebrate, of which I do not know, but what I do know is that yesterday the streets were deserted, and today they weren't. I could hardly catch a glimpse of the army trucks and vehicles that moved down the Champs, but it was nontheless a nice occasion to see the parade and all. The air-force jets that flew over Paris flew really low so that too was exhilarating, and they released plumes of smoke coloured red white and blue, a spectacular sight. In the afternoon I also got a chance to see some of the parachutists swirling down from the skies to the grassy area at the Invalides, although that sighting was merely a stroke of luck. Near the Champs de Mars close to the Eiffel Tower they were blasting Norah Jones through giant speakers.

Quite a day. (Not to mention the fireworks later this evening) Maybe next time I'll be able to get better pictures.. the French police are amazingly apt at designing confusing barrier schemes, so I could hardly squeeze through the crowd. I got a good shot at the jets, though.

Written on Wednesday, July 14 at 4:43 PM