July 14th Celebrations!

July 14th (aka Bastille Day) is France's National Holiday as it was on

July 14, 1789 when the an angry mob stormed the Bastille Prison during the

French Revolution. Today, a parade down the Champ Elysées 

and fireworks by the EiffelTower commemorate this occasion, 

and I was very fortunate to have taken part in these activities!

That said, what happened in Nice that night has overshadowed my

(and many's) memory of that day and night. Even as I write this blog two weeks

later, France is still grieving from that tragedy as it truly

was horrific in every sense of the word. 

Pray for Nice and pray for peace in this world. 

Given that I woke up at 11:00 that today, I unfortunately
missed the parade, but still walked down the blocked-off
Champs Elysées post-parade at noon. 

From the Arc de Triomphe, Daisy and I walked to Parc Monceau, which
is one of the most beautiful (and secret) parks in Paris. 

A delightful little bridge

   After spending some more time here

and in the surrounding 8e arrondissement, I then split up

from Daisy and went to a BBQ hosted by the marines at their compound.

Other interns were also there as well, and we had a nice time eating BBQ, 

drinking wine, playing hacky sack, and hanging out outside. 

From there, we (meaning 10 of us) all went to stake out a spot on the Pont d'Alma around 8:00 

to watch the fireworks from 11:00. Even though we were there for a while,

the time passed quickly as we continued to chat and hang. The firework

show itself was quite spectacular and made for a very memorable evening.

Holding down the fort while the others were off elsewhere

Almost time for the fireworks to begin!

It begins!

The finale