Firemen's Ball!

Today I went for a run and it was fantastic. I ran from my house in the 7th up and around the Tour Eiffel and back through Ecole Militare. Things I saw on my run:

• beaucoup de touristes (of course)
• a older man who appeared to be naked sitting in his convertible sunning himself and reading a map
• a neighborhood clochard (a homeless man) on rue de Sufferen who sleeps in a tent, not to be confused with the our clochard who we give our pâtisseries too. He may get really fat by the end of the year...
• musée du quai Branly
  
• other people jogging (only men though, Parisian women don't need to exercise?)

As usual, there were tons of people milling about the tower but what was especially nice was the huge speaker systems that were set-up and playing classical music. The speakers, the tv station buses and crews were all set up around the tower in preparation for the big party tomorrow, Bastille Day.

The city has been in preparation for Bastille Day for some time now. Last Sunday, I was waiting in a long line for the Musée de l’Orangerie (free the 1st Sunday of the month) out in front of Place de Concorde and I stood there watching crews set up the stage in the place where the president and Carla will preside and watch the activities on Monday. The barricades along Champs-Élysées have been up for weeks.

Tonight, the night before Bastille Day is the Firemen's ball (Bal de Pompiers)! Tonight all the fire stations in all of Paris open up to the public and there is a disco! The firemen wear there uniforms and host the party. It sounds like something that should happen in San Francisco but doesnt. boo!

Hopefully, I'll wake up early on Monday and watch the military parade and catch a glimpse of Nick & Carla.