Au revoir

All good things must come to an end and so has our time in Paris.  We originally were going to go home yesterday (Sat, July 14), but later realized that it was Bastille Day (the French July 4th) so we extended our trip one day and are glad we did.  The day began with a military parade down the Champs followed by an afternoon of people walking around the city, which created a lively, fun atmosphere.

Joe already uploaded a video of the parade (or really post parade since we couldn't get close enough to see the actual parade).

Unfortunately, the theme of not being quite close enough continued for the fireworks.  We watched the 30+ minute fireworks show from our balcony.  We walked over to the Eiffel Tower earlier to confirm the vantage point from our apt and were sure that we'd be able to see it all from our balcony, but it turns out we had an obstructed view so we could only see the really high fireworks (see video below).  The theme this year was "Disco" and we could hear all the music from our balcony (every song was from the US so we felt like we were at a wedding).  It was still fun to hear the music and take in the atmosphere, but we were a little disappointed about our view, although we could see a good bit of the finale.  I guess it just gives us a reason to come back to see another Bastille Day, but you can probably tell from reading our blog that we don't really need another reason.

It was a wonderful trip and we're sad to see it end, but we have a feeling we'll be back one day soon!