Powered by Tofu » 4th of July http://www.poweredbytofu.com Travel blog + foodie adventures + Portland living + listomania Tue, 07 Feb 2012 04:00:52 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Fourth of July vs Bastille Day http://www.poweredbytofu.com/fourth-of-july-vs-bastille-day/ http://www.poweredbytofu.com/fourth-of-july-vs-bastille-day/#comments Thu, 02 Jul 2009 18:06:50 +0000 poweredbytofu http://www.poweredbytofu.com/?p=2075 Bastille Day in ParisIn 2006, I was in the south of France on 4th of July. Of course, in France the 4th doesn’t have any significance, so we spent the evening swimming in Cassis, near Marseilles. The 14th of July however, is Bastille Day – France’s national day of celebration, commemorating the storming of the Bastille in 1789.

Bastille Day in Paris:

By this time, we were in Paris and got to experience the madness that is Bastille day at the Eiffel Tower…

“We headed to the Eiffel Tower and it was much too late to stake out a great spot so we ended up waaaaay back, but I think any spot was still a good view! We used our street maps as seats and waited for the show. I must say that fireworks at the Eiffel Tower were better than any Independence Day celebration I have ever seen! They play classical music during the fireworks. It most certainly beat our cheesy rock montages for the 4th. After the fireworks we swam through the masses to the metro and headed “home.” *sigh* I love Paris.”
–my thoughts on Paris, circa 2006

What sacrilege! Oh well, you be the judge… here’s a video of the fireworks and music on Bastille Day at the Eiffel Tower:

Do the French really do it better? Happy 4th of July! I <3 America!  :)

]]> http://www.poweredbytofu.com/fourth-of-july-vs-bastille-day/feed/ 2 4th of July in Marseilles http://www.poweredbytofu.com/4th-of-july-in-marseilles/ http://www.poweredbytofu.com/4th-of-july-in-marseilles/#comments Wed, 05 Jul 2006 06:59:00 +0000 poweredbytofu http://www.poweredbytofu.com/2006/07/04/day-12-fourth-of-july-in-cassis/ Happy 4th of July! We took a tour of the redevelopment project near the port this AM. It was pretty cool. I again, did not want to sit in class this afternoon! But we got out at 3:30 and then got on the bus to go to La Ciotat and Cassis. We stopped along the way to take pictures at one of the lookouts. Wow, gorgeous blue water! So I was starving by the time we stopped at Cassis, so instead of swimming first a couple of us went and got drinks (& since we were customers were then allowed to use the toilets, lol) The iced tea and bread filled me up enough so I could go swimming and not be totally miserable!

So I’ve now swam in the Mediterranean! It’s so blue, and very salty! After an appropriate amount of time of bobbing in the water I got out and we eventually went to find a restaurant to eat at. We ended up going to an Italian restaurant. I got the four cheese lasagna and it was super good. Yum! And a view of the harbor… very cool! It’s kind of funny being in another country for Independence Day, as [obviously] it doesn’t mean anything here.

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