Allow me to slip into a cliché: when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
And then, if you just don't feel like making lemonade, you eat the lemons and deal.
Lets start off by saying that in the beginning of the trip - to be more precise - when I first met everyone at the airport, one of the few things we were able to converse about was how excited we were for Bastille Day. We thought everyone would get really into it and we would paint our nails and wear shirts that said "Bastille Day 2011". We assumed there would be a great show of fireworks! And then after a full day of nationalistic celebration, everyone would lean back sing "La Marseillaise" all together as one happy french family.
UN-fortunately,
French people don't get into Bastille Day.
Americans get more into Bastille Day than french people do.
And that, my friends, is depressing.
Let's start off by giving some credit to the French. They had started out with something good. There was a video projection "sur La Rotonde"*, and the french music playing in the background created quite the patriotic ambiance. However, an announcement was heard: "Mesdames et Monsiers - les feu d'artifices sont annulés pour ce soir à cause de le vent"**
-cue the gloomy violin soundtrack-
But! There's still hope! We heard an impromptu concert was to be set up on the Cours Mirabeau. Maybe this night can still be saved!
Nope.
The only songs played (that we remotely knew) were "we will rock you" and "YMCA".
Yeah.
It was fun.
And then when they sang we will rock you, they couldn't pronounce it, so it sounded like "We will watch you - we will we will AH-CHOO!"
And, by the way, no one attending that concert was below the age of 60.
I hate this negative attitude. And honestly, I know I sound like quite the grouchy complainer in this post, but really! We were all so excited for Bastille Day. I have
to say that being disappointed is probably one of the worst feelings you could get.
But, to make this better, everything else on this adventure has been absolutely perfect and incredible, so I think every other amazing day here will compromise. This failed concert showed me that maybe the french people aren't completely perfect and coordinated in everything they do. To tell you the truth, Aix's failed Bastille Day made me feel a bit better
about my American identity.
At least we can pronounce "rock you".
At least we got cotton candy!
* "sur La Rotande" translates to "on La Rotande". La Rotande was the huge fountain in the center of Aix.
** the fireworks are cancelled because of the strong wind.
