Joyeux le Quatorze Juillet!!

Bastille Day weekend was so fun! My host parents had been telling us at dinner how the firemen have a dance in the main street behind my house. I told my friends from class about it and we were all really excited to go! Our painting teacher had even been to one and and he said it was wild and seemed like the firemen had been preparing all year for it. So we were sold and found the address for the one in my district a few blocks from my house. They were going on Saturday and Sunday, but we decided to go on Saturday so we could see the fireworks on Sunday. We met at the metro stop right by my apartment and since I live on the Seine, we sat there and had some drinks before we went to the Firemen's Ball. After a while a few of my friends had to use the bathroom so we found a restaurant that let us use theirs (which is really rare) and then we felt bad so we ordered a drink there and made friends with the cute bartender. He realllllly liked my friend Jenn so I awkwardly asked if I could take a picture of them together.

After we met back up with our group, we found the fire station and the line leading to it that wrapped around the block. We ended up waiting in line for over and hour and a half but we made friends with 2 middle aged men in Paris for a conference. They had fun "flirting" with us. One went to buy wine at a store the line passed and shared with a few of my friends. We got separated for a little bit when the giant bouncer was letting one several people in at a time and I was left pressed up against the railing with a drunk crowd smooshing me. We finally made it all into this area that was just a square surrounded by buildings on each side pack full with people, strobe lights and and a giant DJ stage. I thought that was awesome then when we went to find the bathrooms, there was another section with another stage, a bar and a bartender, and it was twice as big as the first square! It was the biggest party I have been to. Obviously. There was a lot of techno-Ellie-Goulding-Euro-pop music going on. After my two friends walked me home I was sitting on my bed in silence and my ears were ringing so bad it hurt.

On Sunday, I woke up to see a parade of horses from the window in the living room of my apartment.

For lunch Jenn and I went to a giant wooded area west of Paris that supposedly is very popular but dangerous at night. It becomes a red light district. But we went for a picnic in the middle of the day and had fun. We ate lunch and played a card game called gin. Lots of people especially men would stare at us like we were crazy when they walked by or asked us if they could play. By the time we got back to the city, it was late enough to go find a spot for the fireworks! We met my friends from class Maddy, Danielle, and Nicole on the Seine by Place de la Concorde which on one side is Champs Elysees and on the other is the Tuleries garden behind the Louvre and found a place to sit on the railing of the river with some drinks. We waiting for probably an hour and a half and then the fireworks started! It gets dark so late in Paris, they started at 11.

Over all it was a really fun weekend. It kind of made up for not being in the US for the 4th of July. Of course I like the 4th better, but seeing the fireworks made it better.