My First Bastille Day

I celebrated my first Bastille day in Paris with an extra reason to celebrate:
I received my Carte Sejour (French identity card) to stay here for the next year.
YEAH!!!!!! I am official now.

I started the Bastille Day festivities with some friends Thursday night by trying to get into the Le Bal des Pompiers (The Fireman’ s Ball) at the fire station on rue Mahler. Le Bal des Pompiers is a fun, all night party the night before Bastille day   organized by all the fire stations in Paris. The one on rue Mahler is one of the most popular, attracting thousands of gay men and straight women, supposedly because they have the best looking firemen and best music. The line was too long, so we skipped out to have dinner at a wonderful tapas restaurant Caves St. Gilles. The cuisine was top notch, authentic tapas and we shared Manchego cheese with quince paste, chilled sardines, potato & egg tortillas, Serrano ham, croquettas and a bottle of Spanish Rioja. It was Yumsville! We returned to Le Bal and the line now snaked a block and a half, so we decided to bail. I hadn’t seen a line this long since the Kate Spade sample sale in NY with desperate looking fashionistas clamoring to buy anything they could get their hands on. 

In the last 15 years French restaurants in NYC have used Bastille day as a marketing tool to boost summer business, having special menus and street celebrations with music and entertainment. No such thing in Paris. The only sign of celebration during the day was a parade of army tanks rolling down rue de Rivoli with hot butch looking guys in sexy camouflage uniforms.When I wished people Happy Bastille Day I was surprised at their response of shrugging their shoulders with their so-what-it’s Bastille day attitude. I thought the French were much more patriotic.

With restaurant meals becoming almost a full time job, we went to a favorite classic bistro Ma Bourgogne and sat outside overlooking Place des Vosges, one of the most beautiful squares in Paris. We all enjoyed variations of steak frites with a bottle of Brouilly. Breathless with my child like anticipation, we walked to the nearest Seine bridge to watch the fireworks, only to be disappointed when we couldn’t see them. Standing on the bridge looking at the most beautiful city in world, I still could not believe how lucky I was to live here.

Caves St. Gilles 4 rue Saint Gilles-75003     Tel. 01 48 87 22 62
Ma Bourgogne 19 Place des Vosges-75004    Tel. 01 42 78 44 64

Comments

[Eric at Paris Daily Photo]

Congratulations on your Carte Sejour. I know this is a big step for people wanting to stay here so I understand the happiness you must feel. And what a way to celebrate...the 14 Juilliet!

[zen g]

Congrats on your move to Paris!

Move over . . . I'm right behind you!