And what does one do on Bastille Day?

Well, I can't say I've ever understood Bastille Day, but being so close to the Bastille monument, we did make the most of it. The night before, crowds had gathered to enjoy music and food. We made it out there later, and they had two stages set up around the Bastille monument. (My favorite was the French rapper who happened to be wearing a pope costume. Interesting. Couldn't understand it. But strangely irresistible.)

On Bastille Day, the group headed to Pere Lachaise, which has many famous people buried there, including Jim Morrison and Oscar Wilde. I was wandering around taking photos, and I didn't really give myself enough time to go search for them. The graveyard did not really look at all like the ones next to me in the states. They all were very close together, and they created a sort of labyrinth. Strangely peaceful. Really would have liked to have seen the Oscar Wilde one, though. Later we went to Montmartre, which is a beautiful area of Paris that has a church and ton of steps with a great view of Paris. I took the tram, but apparently the stairs were much faster - AND they didn't involve being packed into a car with a ton of other people. It was worth it at the top for the beautiful views.

Last night made the perfect end of Bastille Day for me. Megan, Alexis, Heather, Dillon and I decided to attempt to watch fireworks off the Eiffel Tower from the Louvre. We didn't want to face the crowds that were sure to be by the tower, but we knew there was a good view from the Louvre. It ended up being awesome. It wasn't too crowded, but a ton of other people had the same idea and enjoyed the more relaxed atmosphere. We started joking that this would ruin fireworks for us forever. ("Oh, they're not like Bastille Day fireworks.") Then to avoid the crowds on the metro, we ended up killing some time at a carnival. Odd. Strangely beautiful. A lot of fun. Just extremely bummed that I did not find a midnight showing of Harry Potter. Oh, well. Au revoir!


Loved the vibrant colors at the carnival.


The ferris wheel right next to a very old statue.


Is it bad that I am in love with this picture? Instead of hitting the metro right after the fireworks, we stopped at the carnival, and as you can see, visitors must pay to use the facilities.



See how in focus this is? My apologies for not having any Eiffel Tower fireworks shots, but they did not come out well. Sorry, guys. Oh, this is the Louvre at night - where we watched the fireworks from.


One of the better views of Paris from Montmartre.


A different view of Paris from Montmartre.


We made this stop on the metro just so we could each take this picture.


This cemetery had so many windy paths, I was afraid I would get lost, so I didn't stray too far from the front.

The markers were so close together, but they were also very beautiful.

The group up the road from our hotel toward the cemetery.