Bastille Day, Before the Fireworks
Your taste of life in Paris and France
ParlerParis.com
Monday, July 19, 2010 • Paris, France
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"Il a plu des cordes!" -- It came down in buckets like a tropical storm about noon on Bastille Day, thwarting our picnic plans and rendering us all inside to wonder if the fireworks at the Eiffel Tower would be snuffed out or not.
The whole afternoon was 'hit or miss,' so we turned on the "télé" to watch the festivities along the Champs-Elysées -- the pour soldiers drenched under the downpour still marching and beating their drums. The air show wasn't affected -- they still did their dance in the sky with precision. Carla Bruni Sarkozy in her little black sheath dress managed to stay calm, cool and collected next to the African heads of state, enough to be interviewed by the press and say way too much -- although it's unusual for a 'First Lady' to have anything to say at all for fear of seeming brainless. Carla isn't afraid to open her mouth or show off her lovely slim very "Française" body, knowing she is 'eye candy' for the cameras and a good antidote for her 'Napoleonic' little husband.
A visiting friend and I ate the picnic goodies out on the terrace of "Le Saint-Tropez" and realized that the rains had stopped, the sky was clearing and perhaps the fireworks would take place after all. The Métro was packed like sardines on route to the Champs de Mars, but within minutes upon arrival we found a small spot on which we could spread the garbage bags we had brought to protect our bottoms from the wet grass, just in time for the sun to fall and the show to begin. "La Grande Dame" is forever one of the world's most beautiful sights, and with the deepening blue and threatening sky, she glowed like a golden torch with all eyes fixed on her.
The fireworks started about 11 p.m. and lasted a good 45 minutes, in several different segments, each segment starting off small and ending with a crescendo, building to a finale -- all set to a theme to celebrate the 50th anniversary of independence of 14 of France's former colonies. It's always a spectacular show, not just because the fireworks themselves are exceptional, but because the setting behind this 'iron maiden' that symbolizes the city of Paris and exemplifies French exceptional engineering is also the 'ultimate' eye candy in France -- way beyond First Lady Carla. Who or what can top her?
Normally, there's no problem getting to the Champ de Mars, but getting home can yet be another story, with hundreds of thousands of people all heading for the Métro, buses (those that run), their cars and bikes and motorbikes, or simply on foot. I cannot explain what happened, except to say that when we entered the Métro at Latour-Maubourg, there were hoards of people elbow to elbow, but by the time we landed on the platform, there were just a handful and almost no one in the car. Within minutes we were home and the rain started up again! It all seemed rather miraculous and perfectly timed by some more powerful hand than nature itself.
Sunday afternoon was gloriously beautiful -- too beautiful to stay indoors. A friend with a car, who is game to go just about anywhere anytime, offered up a ride to the country. We headed to Auvers-sur-Oise, the tiny town where Vincent Van Gogh spent the last days of his life, where he is buried there next to his brother Theo and where he painted more than one painting per day during his two months there, not to mention dozens of drawings. It is here that he shot himself in the chest in a field, then returned to his tiny seven square-meter room above the Auberge Ravoux where he died in the presence of his brother on July 29, 1890.
Auvers is a thirty-minute ride outside of Paris and a charming town that has accepted its role as an important part of Van Gogh's impressionistic mark made on the world. As you wander around the town, you will see panels of his paintings of the scenes you see before you and that he saw over 100 years ago, and you can follow his footsteps up the stairs to his room at the inn and all the way to his grave.
Note: To get there by car, you follow the A15 in the direction of Cergy-Pontoise, then take the A115 in the direction of Amiens
Beauvais, exiting at "Méry/Auvers-sur-Oise." By train, start at the Gare Saint-Lazare or Gare du Nord in the direction of Pontoise and change there in the direction of Persan-Beaumont. Exit at the Gare d’Auvers in the center of town. There is also a train from the Gare du Nord that goes directly there from April 1 through October 31st. See http://www.maisondevangogh.fr/ and http://www.transilien.com for more information.
Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
(on the bed of Le Saint-Tropez)
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P.S. Don't forget, if you are a guest staying in any one of our luxurious Parler Paris Apartments, and would like to consider having your own "pied-à-terre" for your pleasure and profit, contact me for a FREE one-hour consultation while you're enjoying the apartment in the City of Light. Visit French Property Consultation for more information or email me at adrian@adrianleeds.com
