I've asked my students, if they were going to France for their holiday to send an entry to publish in this blog: very kindly, Pam W. sent me this after her trip to Paris.
Not sure if this should be in English or French - well La réponse est déjà dans la question Pam…
We had decided to visit Musée D'Orsay in the morning and so set off on the Métro for Assemblée Nationale station. As we walked along we noticed that the road had metal barricades along the edges and at that point I remembered it was Quatorze Juillet. I spoke to a Gendarme and asked what was happening, having said that I knew what date it was. He explained that was a parade, which started at Champs Elysées and would cross the Pont de la Concorde. We decided to wait and watch the parade and could hear the band playing on the other side of the bridge. We waited - and waited - until suddenly there were planes flying in formation overhead which then left vapour trails in red white and blue. It took me so long to switch my camera on that I missed the photo of the planes and just got the trails.
I got a bit worried then that if we waited any longer we would not have long enough in the Musée and also that it would be crowded so we continued on and spent the rest of the morning there. It was wonderful and my friend had not been there before. There was one picture I wanted to see again as my daughter had been fascinated by it on our visit there two years ago. I was able to describe the picture to the lady on the information desk and she knew exactly which one I was describing. Unfortunately there was not a poster or card of it, but I was pleased I was able to ask and she congratulated me on my French ( thank you Corinne ).
We then went to have lunch at a small Gallery which had been recommended by one of my students who is French. We had a lovely lunch - photo provided - and promised to go back next time and look at everything in the gallery.
Of course the problem with Paris on Quatorze Juillet is that all the shops are shut, so no shopping. We had a walk up the Champs Elysee ( past the statue of Winston Churchill) and then it was time to come home.
The train in front of us on our homeward journey got stuck in the tunnel so we were delayed coming home, which meant we got a free one-way ticket for the next time, so am already planning my next trip!
