Welcome to my blog; inspired by Hemmingway's A Moveable Feast, a desire to record the more succulent and misshapen nuggets of my Parisian adventure in nibble-size lobes for your light-entertainment and my anticipated future memory failure, and to get some things off my chest and onto yours.

Wednesday 16 May 2012

Bastille, Election Night - 6th May 2012


Here is my video footage of the storming of the Place de la Bastille on the announcement of Francois Hollande's victorious presidential election.

It was pretty hectic- people jumping and singing on portaloos and sitting on traffic lights, flag waving (French and European, and what I understood to be Arabic flags), and then chants and cheers as Hollande went up on the big screen and gave his victory speech from his home town.  

Later, as we attempted to leave we envisaged the end of our lives in the stampede; the incredible crush of the crowds dragging us along as if we'd fallen into some raging tributary of the seine.

On our way back we heard the birth of a new slogan from a youth- high youth unemployment being one of Sarko's widely perceived failures- "Sarkozy: Au Chomage!" (Sarkozy: Unemployed.)

We survived though, and so does this video.  Evidence that a great many French people were very pleased to have a new president... seemingly everyone in Paris at least.



And this metro driver wasn't going to miss out on the celebrations just because he was stuck at work...



(note the two Sarkozy fans none too pleased with proceedings around the 20 second mark.)

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