Fireworks and Frustrations

Yesterday (Saturday) was Bastille Day (in France it is formally called La Fête Nationale - The National Celebration;  it commemorates the storming of the Bastille the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille fortress-prison which is seen as a symbol of the beginning of the modern nation).  So much like July 1st in Canada or July 4th in the U.S.A there are festivities all day concluding with a fireworks display.  The fireworks display in Paris takes place by the Eiffel Tower and they have a reputation of being spectacular.  So we decided to take them in, even though we knew there would be a big crowd doing the same.

It began well enough, on the Metro ride to the spot our apartment host recommended a couple of buskers stepped on with saxophone, trumpet and portable sound system and proceeded to play some standards (pretty well actually) handing around a McDonalds drink cup for change between the songs.  When we got to the recommended stop we simply followed the crowds.  We began to suspect we were in for quite the experience when we saw all the ambulances and police vehicles parked in the area.  We arrived at one spot that seemed to have a good view of Eiffel Tower but no one was sticking around - a young woman in some kind of uniform asked if we needed help and when I asked if this was a good spot to watch the fireworks she said "Non, non!" and then directed us to go in the direction of the crowd to a bridge, then cross the river and head to the Eiffel Tower.  So off we headed, following the crowd.

We hadn't eaten since a sandwich in Calais so we were on the lookout for a street vendor.  Finally we found one, selling fries and what he called kabob meat in a bun.  It turned out to be very good (perhaps partly because we were hungry).  A little further we turned the corner to head to the bridge and suddenly there were lots of people and lots of street vendors (including guys selling bottles of wine and champagne!)  Part way across the bridge we decided that we shouldn't go any further, we had a decent view of the tower and lots of people were gathering on the bridge.  Now we simply waited for the fireworks to begin.  Some people couldn't wait and firecrackers and other noise makers would periodically be set off (sometimes quite loud and startling). Groups of drunk men would begin singing at the tops of their lungs, and teenagers coming at the last minute would push their way into some good spots (sometimes blocking the view of families with small children who had been waiting in that spot for over a hour).  It was quite the wild atmosphere.

We had a spot right by an overflowing garbage can, which ironically made it a good spot, since no one could move into that space and block the site lines at the last minute.  Joshua, with his height advantage wasn't a concern, but Anna might have missed out.  The sky grew darker and the crowd grew restless, little children asked their parents over and over "When is it going to start?"  The advertised start time was 10:45 PM, but the show didn't get going until almost 11:00.  When the lights on the Eiffel Tower went off we knew the time had come.

For 40 to 45 minutes the skies about the River Seine were filled with a variety of fireworks, and periodically the Eiffel Tower would sparkle throughout the show.  There was music playing but we only heard bits of it where we were standing.  Some of the fireworks were unusual such as the ones that exploded into heart shapes, or the ones that simple hovered in the same spot until they burned out.  So many fireworks were set off that the air was filled with smoke, a constant haze hung over the river.  And they kept going, one set would finish and we would think "Are they over now?" only to have a new set of fireworks burst into the sky a few moments later.  It truly was a spectacular sight.

I took advantage of my new digital camera to shoot a lot of images - some were straightforward pictures of the fireworks, and some were experiments where I zoomed or rotated the camera as the shutter was open.  My biggest challenge was to get a unobstructed view as people kept holding their cell phone cameras up in the air to take pictures!  (I tried to be sensitive to the people behind me and kept my camera at head level).  I've included in this post a couple of the pictures that I took last night, I'm happy with the results.

An experimental fireworks shot created by zooming the lens while the shutter was open.

Now to the frustrations - actually the frustrations began earlier with the behaviour of people in the crowd (either pushing their way, or setting off loud and frightening fire-crackers), and the delayed start of the show - but those were not really that bad, and could almost be expected and predicted.  It's what happened next that became the ultimate frustration.

After the fireworks were over we decided that we would wait 10 or 15 minutes for the crowd to disperse somewhat, then we would walk back to the metro station we first arrived at.  Walking back through the crowd with police and ambulance sirens blaring every few minutes was a bit straining on the nerves, but eventually we got back to the Metro station only to discover it was locked and a huge crowd waiting for it to open.  We waited for a while until the crowd began to disperse - when I checked I found out that this particular Metro station was not going to open again that night.  Nowhere did we see any signs or hear any news of this prior to the fireworks, and I don't think it was because such notice was given in French - there were many Parisians also surprised by this turn of events.  We were told by a member of the Metro security that the station near the bridge we viewed the fireworks from was available... so we headed back the way we came.  At this point it is close to 1:00 AM and we are feeling very tired and perhaps a little apprehensive.  When we arrive at the Metro station we were told was open, we found that same scene, the gates locked and Metro security telling us it wouldn't open - sending us on to a different one.

So now what to do?  We decide to start walking in the direction of our Paris apartment, hoping to find a Metro station along the way that was open.  It took two more stations before we found one that was actually open (by this time it was 1:45 AM)  A little checking on Google maps and it looks like we walked for over 5 kilometers looking for an open Metro station.  That was quite frustrating and a little frightening (as we encountered many groups of drunk revelers who might not have been very patient with the language barrier should they decide to interact with us).

The family standing at the spot we watched the fireworks from.  Note the smiles on everyone's face, we hadn't discovered the frustration of the closed metro stations yet.

Well I'm writing this post, so you will realize that we did make it back to the apartment safe, though weary.  We can now say we joined over a million people to watch the famous July 14th fireworks in Paris, and we can also say "Don't need to do that again!"  Hopefully that will be the end to any major frustrations in the City of Lights.