The Techno Parade and a Ficus Plant

Who: Large trucks bearing oversized speakers, and lots of half-clothed, half-drunk techno music fans
When: Saturday afternoon
Where: Directly between our apartment and the grocery store

When we decided to make a grocery run on Saturday afternoon, we had no idea what was lurking 500 feet from our front door: the Techno Parade. First we heard the party, then we saw it. Traffic was stopped, and the street was absolutely packed with people. Every minute or two, another music truck would roll slowly by: each truck had a DJ, at least eight six-feet-tall speakers, and a contingent of girls dancing to the beat.

We fought our way through the crowds to pick up the things we needed. But as we entered the store, we noticed that plants were on sale for 50% off. We'd been talking about getting a plant to fill in an empty corner of the apartment -- but it would have to be reasonably tall and fairly hardy (Gloria has a habit of chewing the leaves off small potted plants). What we found was a four-foot ficus plant. Unfortunately, we don't have any pictures (after all, we'd just been headed out for groceries!), so I'll have to ask you to imagine Matt, carrying a large plant, and trying to find his way through a the crowd.

We do, however, have somewhat more typical pictures of Paris. Last weekend were the National Patrimony Days, when museums, government offices, and historic sites throw open their doors for no admission charge. We didn't take as much advantage of this as we likely should have, but we did enjoy climbing all the way to the top of the Arc de Triomphe (284 stairs!) and getting some beautiful views of the city.