Dancing Firefighters and Bastille Day

Hello! So it's been quite a while since I've done a post. I've actually been pretty sick the past few days. I'm starting to feel better, though my voice is almost gone. I realized that I have not yet done a post about Bastille Day last Sunday, so here it is!

Bastille Day festivities really start on the night before, when each firefighter station hosts it's own party, and these are called Les Bals des Pompiers. Apparently, these are held all over France, and they are entirely paid for by the government. I cannot picture a party like this being done in the U.S.- that's for sure. Our entire group went to one of these parties held in the Marais, and it was huge. The line to get in almost went down the entire street. Fortunately, we all got in, and it was pretty great. It was funny to see firefighters in uniform dancing and singing along to Kesha songs. Almost all of the music was American, and it was held in a few courtyards outside in between these really nice historic buildings.

Honestly, the Bals des Pompiers was probably the most exciting part of Bastille Day. On Bastille Day, we attended the military parade that happens every year. It wasn't like any American parade- there was no music or balloons or anything. It was mostly just military tanks passing by in the street. We got down there a little late, so we missed the President's motorcade and missed the planes that fly above.

Then, we attended a free ballet performance held at the Bastille Opera. It was really neat that such a sophisticated performance done by a professional ballet company was completely free. The opera holds 2,000 audience members, so we got there an hour early and still managed to get in. It seemed that the audience was filled with mostly local Parisians.

Finally, the night ended with the firework display done near the Eiffel Tower. My friends and I watched at a bridge nearby so that we could have a good view of the Eiffel Tower. I was impressed. The Eiffel Tower kept changing colors and was lit in different ways, and the fireworks lasted 45 minutes and were stunning. A lovely end to the day.