paris: day three

after having one of the longest days ever and acquiring some injuries (anne and corinne having knee/back pain and nick’s feet covered in blisters) we decided to plan an easy day to celebrate both anne’s 28^th birthday and bastille day! who knew they would throw such an elaborate party in anne’s honor?! we were able to meet up with corinne’s cousin Emily who has been living in paris for eight months. not only is she great company, but also a great tour guide and translator! she directed us towards a nice café for lunch and then we headed over to the arc de triomphe and champs elysees where a parade and air show had been held earlier in the day (we were able to see some of it on a TV they had inside the cafe). we were able to witness the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier, which was pretty amazing. these guards had some serious weaponry on them. after this we decided to relax in a park. emily directed us to a nearby park and we picked up some wine and cookies. it was a beautiful day and we spent the afternoon laughing, relaxing, and jumping in on some games of soccer and rugby. emily’s friend from australia also met up with us and we headed off to dinner. now, the service is traditionally slower in france but none of us had ever seen anything this slow. we waited about a half hour for drinks and then about another hour for food. this was very frustrating because we wanted to make sure we could get a spot to see the fireworks for bastille day. since dinner had put us so behind, we found ourselves in an extremely crowded metro station. it was a sea of people all trying to get to the same place. by the time we maneuvered around the crowds, the fireworks began and some of us got separated. the view of the fireworks from the eiffel tower was somewhat obstructed by trees, buildings, and people but we still got a pretty decent show and saw some unique fireworks we had never seen before. we managed to reunite after the show and started the long journey home. many metro stops were closed and the streets were packed. we didn’t make it home until about 1:30 and were beat.

~Nick & Corinne