Bastille Day

July 14th started off like many other summer days in Paris - 65 degrees (fahrenheit) and mostly sunny and it would end with the greatest display of fireworks most of us had ever seen. The day's festivities began around 3pm in the Champs de Mars (the park between the Eiffel Tower and Ecole Militaire). We joined the International group, noted by its roped off plot of land and the large French flag.

As the afternoon turned into evening, the famous French singer, Johnny Halladay, began his performance and the French people continued to stream into the park. By the end of the concert, it was said that there were 800,000 people in attendance. Johnny's final song was noted by one quick burst of fireworks from the sides of the Eiffel Tower and 1 minute of sparkling.

Now with darkness encroaching and 1+ million people in the park, we all prepared to be dazzled. And we were! The display started with a projection on the Eiffel Tower that looked like the Eiffel Tower was being built inside a tetris game. My favorite segments included:

1. 1936 (when France got into WWII - funny, there were no white flags): The music sounded as if it was written in war time and the fireworks looked and sounded like canons being fired
2. late 1950s: bright pink, purple and green flowers were projected along with the hypnotic music of the hippie era
3. 1993 (the year that the EU was established): various European flags were projected flying up the face of the Eiffel Tower with the "Marseillaise" leading the way
4. 2009 (120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower): the countdown marked the beginning of the grand finale of the fireworks

My description of the fireworks probably have not done them justice, and these probably won't either, but click below to get the idea of how it looked:

• Finale - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FAl3dy9WTQ
• This one starts with the flags going up it, then shows the Eiffel Tower dancing, then it goes into the Finale - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=misk0PvGNvc&feature=related
• This one claims to be the "best of" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUNFxTaCI2c&feature=related