Thirteen years ago, when I went to celebrate Bastille Day at the Eiffel Tower for the first time, I never thought that it would be my last (to date).
Yet it was a memorable experience.
The day had been memorable so far, as I spent the morning with Alexandre and many others lined up along the Champs-Elysées to watch the military parade, during which I got a very quick glimpse of a Nicolas Sarkozy waving to the crowd from the presidential car as it passed by.
The evening brought a welcome opportunity to chill, after battling for a chance to see tanks drive by and fighter jets fly by.
I went to meet Chi-Yang and some of his friends on Champ de Mars, where an huge, festive picnic was taking place. In the distance, near Ecole Militaire, musicians such as Nelly Furtado, Stanislas, and Michel Polnareff took turns performing sets on a large stage that had been set up.
And then the fireworks came. As I snapped pictures, "La Valse d'Amélie", a track from the Amélie soundtrack, started playing and I got giddy. "I know that song!", I said excitedly, to anyone who would listen. Having arrived in France only five months before, I felt in that moment a little more French.
