bastille day!

So I'm in the process of making a video, but my computer's acting up, so I'm just going to give you an update of what I did for Bastille Day!

Tuesday night, I went out to a really nice dinner with Anna and Vanessa. We went to this Asian/French fusion place that was in one of my guide books. It was amazing! For my main dish, I got this chicken with avocado that was to die for. Also, the white wine we ordered was really delicious. After that, we went  to a concert at the Bastille for a bit, and then we walked to the Seine and sat on the quais with a bottle of wine. So many people were there, just hanging out with friends and talking and dancing and enjoying the night. There was even a section where couples were doing the tango. I really would have loved to dance, if it had been anything but the tango (which I don't know how to do). 

Wednesday night was even better! I met Paulo at the metro and we went to the Eiffel Tower, where we met other people soon after. There were literally millions of poeple there--it was absolutely insane. Every single inch of the Champs de Mars was covered. The fireworks started almost as soon as we found our friends. They were incredible, the contrast between the colors and the black of the Eiffel Tower was so unexpectedly beautiful. The fireworks went along with different songs (some French, some in English) that played out of speakers that had been set up along the champs. Every explosion matched a note, or a crescendo. It was so much better than the Boston Pops fireworks, which I totally did not think was possible. 

After the fireworks, we had to walk forever to a metro station, since the ones nearby were closed. It was crazy, because thousands of people were all attempting to return to Paris at the same time. We made it to St. Germain though, where me, Gus, and Vanessa went to a bal de pompiers (firemen's ball). There a Bastille Day tradition. It was soooo fun! You walk in to their courtyard, and there's French flag streamers everywhere, a few bar areas, a fireman DJ, and his hot firemen friends dancing with all the young people of Paris! We found some Harvard people that Vanessa sort of knew and just went crazy. We were only there for about an hour, but it was one of the most fun hours I've had in Paris. And there were very few tourists there, it appeared. I caught the metro at around 2 am and crashed at home. 

Today (Thursday) I slept in, went to an internet cafe where I stayed for four hours working on my paper, returned home and worked on my paper more, ate dinner, corrected my paper, and am currently watching French TV as I write this. Boring, I know, but it was really nice to have a lazy day after some more exciting nights. Plus, my paper is better since I spent more time on it. Tomorrow, I have a field trip and more festivities that include (possibly) a dance performance. 

Bon weekend!