Bumping Beats

Hello my dearest family and friends!

So I would like to write a little bit about this phenomenal event that took place through the streets of Paris this past Saturday….the techno parade. That’s write, a whole parade with floats and everything dedicated completely to techno music. While having coffee with my formed TA from the UVA French department the other day, I was informed or warned rather of this event to take place. I somewhat dismissed it having no idea what that meant.

It was a beautiful Saturday in the early afternoon when Jen, the boys and I stepped out for a stroll and a little window shopping on Blvd Saint Germain. After a visit to the Swarovski flagship store, we began to make our way back down St. Germain toward la Bastille and our apartment on Rue Saint Jacques. One can imagine the sheer sensation of excitement that swept over me the minute I felt the vibrations in my toes from subwoofers making their way down the streets. The parade was approaching down blvd Saint Michel, about to round the corner and take over Saint Germain. I should mention at this point the streets were bustling with anticipation. I think the best way to describe the crowds pouring into the street is to imagine a night club emerging from the underground, opening its doors to daylight and releasing all of the dark and dirty happenings that take places in the shadows of the night into the broad sun-filled streets of Paris. Needless to say, excellent people watching!

Having to cross Saint Michel in order to get to Saint Jacques meant having to throw ourselves into the mosh-pit of clubbers jamming out. I should mention the ‘floats’ were simply open-air buses with DJ’s and MC’s on top blasting beats. There were also dancers. Each bus was escorted by the masses rolling along with it. About to make the move to cross saint michel right before a bus was coming down (the buses were moving about 2 feet every 5 mins as they were at the mercy of the crowds before them), I turned to Jen and informed her I’d just meet her at the apartment in the event of separation. What happened next was, I must admit, slightly terrifying. I have never experienced the pull of a rip current in the ocean before but I imagine I have a pretty good idea of how it feels now. The minute I stepped off the curb into the intersection of st. michel and st. germain, I was immediately swept up by the crowd and literally pulled into the mob. There were people getting trampled, people bloody from fights, people tripping on all sorts of drugs (lots of eyes rolling to backs of heads) etc. I did not even have room to turn around and being the shrimper that I am, I could not see out of the crowd and had no idea how long it would take me to get to safety! As they say with rip tides, don’t try to fight it. So, I rolled with it. Looks of panic were mixed with the throngs of people who were absolutely hammered. (I imagined if I had been in the latter, I’d be having a pretty sweet time at the moment) but alas, I had my purse with me and was cradling a Swarovski bag while getting tossed and pushed around by waves of people. (the music sounded pretty good though) After being swept down half of blvd saint germain, I finally made it to an alley and took refuge on the ‘shore.’ I then just sat and watched in amazement has people walked/danced around with handles of liquor, catching a steady aroma of weed wafting through the air…

I eventually found Jen again and we decided to find a nearby bar where we could watch the crowds, have a beer and enjoy the blasting bass. It was a fairly eventful day and I must admit, next year I’d like to voluntarily participate in the event if I happen to be in the Paris area again!