Bastille Day Fireworks in Paris

What a fabulous day - thank you to everyone who has sent text messages, emails and greetings for my birthday - while I am living my dream this week, it was hard to be away from family and all my special friends - (you know who you are) -  but I was able to speak to Rob and Ruth and Nellie and will skype them tomorrow - by the time we arrived back from the parade, it was too late to skype. I also had a wonderful late night/early morning phone call from my Dawn Princess table group who wanted to be the first with their wishes  - seems they were having a birthday party in the Horizon Court without me - they sounded like they had a great time - if you know what I mean - we are blessed to share a table with a great group of people who have gone from strangers to become fabulous friends in such a short time - I am sure they have become friends for life.

After we returned from the parade, we had a sleep and then got ready to go to dinner - earlier in the day, Xavier, the polite young monsieur behind the reception desk booked dinner for us near the Champs Elysees, so that we could walk down to the river for the fireworks. There were massive crowds everywhere - lovely to see so many families out enjoying picnics and barbecues in the park - all the roads around the Eiffel Tower are closed and metro stations near the tower are also closed, so once again we had quite a bit of walking to do. We had a wonderful dinner at Chez Andre - a smallish  typical French restaurant in a side street frequented by locals rather than tourists - the table are small and close together, so there is no such thing as a private conversation - before long everyone seems to be talking across tables.

The menu had classic french dishes like french onion soup, frogs legs, calves liver and snails  - I ordered scallops and they were delicious - while Arnold had a steak (Parisienne style whatever that is). He is a connoisseur of Creme Brulee, ordering it whenever it is on the menu, so of course, he had to have it in Paris. Luckily for me, he shared a little bit, and it was so yummy and creamy - my taste buds were doing the happy dance!!

As we were discussing the wine list, the glamorous, stylish french lady at the table beside us leaned over and recommended the wine that they were drinking, offering a taste before we ordered it. We declined her offer, but ordered the wine anyway, and it was divine - the ice was broken and so we spent the evening talking to them -  they described themselves as 'gypsies' - living between Paris, Monaco and Uraguay.

Naturally, I asked about the royal wedding last week in Monaco, and would you believe it, they were actually guests and had been to the wedding - we had a laugh when I said that our invitation was lost in the mail - seems that they have an apartment near the royal palace and all the neighbours were invited so we got all the gossip!! I am amazed at the interesting people we have met in restaurants - they said that there was a time when they knew everyone who came to the restaurant cause they were all neighbours. Cecile, the wife, has been coming to Chez Andre for more than 40 years since she was a young child - I can't think of any restaurant in Australia that has been operating in the same site for that long. We have noticed that many restaurants in Paris have the date they were established above the door, on the menu or serviettes. One bakery we went to had been operating since 1822 in the same spot with generations of the same family operating it.

Queueing for a table in the streets of Paris at the local corner steak house..

Across the road, we had a reservation at Chez Andre - inside - and the food was absolutely delicious.

Crowds gathering on Pont de L'Alma - a fabulous spot to watch the fireworks

After dinner we headed back down to the Seine and onto  the Alma Bridge (past the Princess Diana memorial) for a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower and the fireworks - every bridge and roadway around the tower and along the river was packed with people - the news report said that there were over one million people. They can't start until 11.00pm. cause it doesn't get dark until nearly 10.30pm. at this time of the year. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get many good shots of the fireworks - suffice it to say - they were spectacular - everything was red, white or blue - although no one does fireworks like New Year's Eve in Sydney - maybe I am a bit biased ....

 We have arrived back to the hotel from the fireworks on the metro with all the crowds ... free transport for everyone - it is now after 2.00am and we have had a fabulous day - I couldn't have asked for more. Tomorrow, will be our last day in Paris - the time has gone so quickly - and we realised that we haven't done any of the touristy sights in Paris - we don't have a real plan - maybe just walk around, take in the ambience and check out the shopping...after sleeping in, of course.

Au Revoir from Paris......