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Bonsoir! I have found a 24/24h internet cafe (they use the 24-hour clock around here, hence the 24/24h...), and have had dinner, et le petite cafe... je ne dormier pas pour plus de 8 heures!
(excuse my bad french, just be glad you don't have to
hear me use it!
D'accord, day 4, the 25th of Mai!
I woke up around 10am, and went down for a late breakfast. I had a shower and decided to wander around the Quartier Latin. I wandered around for a few hours, the left bank is definitely much cooler than le rive droit! Most of the bookstores (librairies) were closed, as it was Sunday, but it seems that there is some kind of big art fair happening starting on the 28th. I'll be there for sure! I finally decided I needed to eat, so I found a cafe and had some food. There was a girl about my age a few tables over, who was talking to who I think were her aunt and uncle, en anglais, and I decided that I would say hi... then when I was leaving somehow just kept walking without saying a word. Sheesh.
Anyway, after I
displayed my prowess as a chicken, I went across to the island that houses the Notre Dame de Paris. I wandered the streets along the Seine for a bit, then heard a huge roaring of engines. I arrived at the roundabout by St.Michel station just in time to witness my first protest in Paris... There were about 200 motorbikes of various descriptions blocking the roadways. They all roared into the roundabout and then stopped once it was full. A guy in a van with a big sign and 8 or so speakers strapped to the roof had pulled off to one side, and was shouting about how they wanted better rights for motorcyclists... complaining about the favoritism shown to the car drivers and the cyclists and the buses. Wow. I've got a video to upload once I get back to Toronto. It was a pretty impressive thing. I wandered away after awhile, and took some pictures of the VERY angry motorists who were stuck in the road, and of the bus drivers who just parked their buses and got out to watch. From further down the road, I have a few pictures of the police blocking the road so no-one
else got stuck, and one-by-one backing the others out of the one-way street. Hilarious!
I then made it to Notre Dame, took some pictures of the outsides, including some of the big chunks of stone that had at one point been attached to the building, but had fallen off. I then finally had to give in and use a public toilet, which fortunately was free, except for the paper towels. I wandered back outside, and pulled out my guidebook, hoping it would help me figure out where to go next, when I read that there was an organ rehearsal every sunday at 4:30pm. I checked the time, and sure enough, it was 4:28pm. I managed to sneak into the chairs in the middle of the church (there are no... um... the benches you sit in... there are only chairs), to listen to the most fantastic sounding organ I have ever, and probably will ever, hear. It was gorgeous... an unbelievable experience. I have a couple of long distance photos of the organ (it's on the opposite end of the church from the dais (... um... pulpit...aww... forget it. I've got no idea about the catholic religion. Or religion in
general really)). I also have some pictures of the Holy FOH lighting positions, and of the Blessed roadcases and video control room. The stained glass windows are stunning. The entire building is actually stunning. Pictures will be forthcoming, as soon as I can get them to the internet. Promise. I'm going back, so I can visit the Crypt and to climb the towers, so I'll get some more pictures then!
After the crazy awesome (what do you call an adjective that modifies an adjective?) "organ audition", I decided to go to la Tour Eiffel, as it was too late to climb the towers at Notre Dame. I hopped on the RER line (more about this later... it's like a GO train that runs underground), and got off to go to the tower. I had a nice stroll along the Seine on a beautiful footpath, and got some great shots of the tower from below. I noticed that there was a big stage setup across the river, and TONS of people starting to crowd around. An impromptu concert? I'd better check this out.
As I got closer, I noticed that they had cordoned off the entire square of the
The Seine
Yawn... ;-) , and the security was ridiculously tight. There were police everywhere, and in addition to the regular looking concert security, there were a lot of guys in suits with earpieces a la Secret Service agents. I was surprised they didn't have a tank parked in the middle of the square (in retrospect, they probably had it around the corner out of sight). With all this security and a big stage, what was I to do but try to get in? It was actually pretty easy, I was worried that I'd need a ticket, but it was just a bag check, and a "Don't take this zip-tie off your bag. No matter what." Once I was through the first set of barriers, I had to pass through a second set to get to the side of the big pond. Only then did I notice the roof-top counter-sniper teams. Seriously. Then I noticed that the flags I had seen earlier were not from a variety of nations as I had originally thought (there was this big Eurovision idol-type contest on TV, that I figured this must be part of), but were all Israeli flags.......
I'd managed to stumble upon the
60th anniversary celebrations for the State of Isreal! Crazy! I've got some videos from the concert, there were some pretty surreal moments. I had to leave after about 4 hours, my knees and feet were killing me (we were standing on a big ramp the whole time), but I had a blast, I just hope the photos turn out. I'm guessing there were about 15,000 people there. This was truly an experience never to forget. Who else can say that they heard a P.A. system echoing off the Eiffel Tower? ;-)
I have to say that despite all the crazy security, there was only one incident of anger worth mentioning, and I think it speaks volumes about the character of Parisians. Partway through the speeches, there was a young guy walking through the crowd, passing out little yellow leaflets. I didn't make anything of it, until a couple of girls burst through the crowd, yelling at him. Turns out the flyers were printed by the "Youth league for Israel" or something like that, and they were advocating for the expulsion of all Palestinians to Jordan as the answer to the political/religious strife in the middle east. To make this
I'm not quite sure WHY they closed this road....
I'm pretty sure it had to do with the hundreds of motorbiker protesters though... clear, the girls were angry that he was passing out these right-wing, pro-Isreali flyers at a very Pro-Isreali rally. It was clear to me that the crowd was very proud of their Jewish heritage, and of the Isreali state, but they were not at all interested in driving anyone from their homes. This incident seems to be pretty typical of Paris with regards to race. I have been very impressed by the multi-culturalism of this city, of the true integration of races, and of the formation of the cultural mosaic that Canada purports to have. Mind you, I don't really understand what people are saying most of the time, but from observation in the streets, on the metro, and on TV, Paris is virtually colour-blind. This is the culture that we need to measure ourselves against, and I realize now that we haven't been doing that in Canada. We look at the US and say "Wow, we're so much better than them. We must be awesome at this" and look no further. This realization is one of the reasons I decided to take this trip, I wanted to get an outside perspective on things, and I'm glad I did, because
THAT'S how you write a 'U'
A door on the courthouses... now I know.
Well, enough about that. I went home soaked and exhuasted (it was pouring rain for the last hour I was there), and promptly fell asleep.
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