14th of July

To celebrate my dad’s birthday (and Bastille Day), there is a military parade in the morning.  I promised Owen soldiers and guns, and he worried (secretly hoped) that one of the guns would “accidentally” discharge… ahh, boy thoughts.

The military parade began with this amazing display just above our heads as we headed over to find a spot for the parade. 

As we walked, every kind of military plane flew overhead – the boys loved every new formation with sounds you could almost feel. For me, it made it much easier to imagine just how terrifying it must have felt like to have foreign planes buzzing in to bomb during WWII.

As the plane section of the parade ended, we came to an area that was outside  the parade route- according to the information that we had.  But we couldn’t go any further toward the route, nor could we see the street.  Because there were official barriers and such a crowd, we figured the parade must come partly by the area.

The boys and I climbed up to a window ledge above the heads of the crowd and had a perfect view as soldiers began to march by.  It was quite a good view and thrilling for the boys to be so high up.

The soldiers sang as they marched and they were very entertaining.  It was more of a song than an cadence.  After a few groups had marched by, Jack complained, “Mom, you lied.  You said there would be guns and they only have swords!”

Soon, these guys (below)marched past.  But they didn’t seem to be part of the parade.  They actually seemed more like crowd control??  These soldiers were right in the crowd that was watching the parade.  They were actually brushing shoulders with the public as they walked by…The boys were thoroughly impressed!

After the soldiers, came every type of vehicle - tank, jeeps, and even olive green bulldozers.  The fun part for me was that they were driving at crazy speeds!  Since we were across the Seine from where the parade officially was, I  am pretty sure that the parade  was more-or-less over and it crossed the bridge toward us to head back to base.  The were done with waving and smiling and were outta-there!  I thought it added to the show of power for the military.

During the parade, it got quite cold and windy and  we were huddling together to stay warm.  I asked the boys if they were ready to leave.  “No.”  Owen said.  Then Jack added emphatically, “Not even close!”

We walked back home, rested, then headed the few miles toward the Eiffel tower.  The boys couldn’t take their scooters because it was going to be really crowed for the fireworks that we were headed to, so we decided to take several hours to meander.

We bought a picnic and ate it at a park.  (picnics in Paris are sooo yummy!)Then walked visiting other parks along the way.  We stayed at one for a very long time because the boys found a French friend and played and played without wanting to stop.  For those of you who wonder, Owen talks with his hands in French as well as English, and also has an impossibly long list of rules for games in English and French too…

We made it to our final destination and found a perfect place to sit.

I didn’t take many photos of the actual fireworks because I held Jack up so he could see, but these photos give a small glimpse of what it was like.  It was absolutely spectacular! The fireworks are designed to be watched from the area where we were sitting.  We considered viewing the show closer to the apartment since the Eiffel Tower is 2.5 miles from home, and we knew we would have to walk home close to midnight with the boys.  We finally decided just to go for it, and I am so glad that we did!  The fireworks behind the tower were one-of-a-kind, and unlike anything else I have seen.  It was nice to have music with the show, and the energy from the crowd was great.

The boys loved the day and it couldn’t have been better (ok, maybe a little warmer – but I won’t complain!)  We walked a little over 8 miles total, and the boys did great (amazingly, a lollypop bought us 2.5 miles of fast-paced walking at 11:30 at night, with only one solitary request to be carried!)