Melinama watches the French lose the World Cup, and goes to the Tour de France

I'm home! When my teeth unclench I will tell you the saga of the Philadelphia Airport yesterday... until then, here are some pictures.

I was in Paris the night of the World Cup finals, and nothing else was mattering to anybody. These little boys were having a pre-game warmup with their stuffed dogs.



I listened to the World Cup from my apartment. That is, everybody's window was open so I heard all the fans. I could tell something good happened for France early on from a general enthusiastic outcry and simultaneous honking of horns. But after that, there was a lot of silence. We went out for the final and watched at a little restaurant (all the open-air places were crammed with fans). What amused me was the way everybody filed out quietly after the defeat, with wry "what did you expect?" looks on their faces.

On to the Tour de France! On the day the bicyclists were due to finish their race in the center of Paris, we took the subway to the Champs-Elysées very early and watched people getting situated for the race. It was a very long wait.






After hours, there was a succession of advertisers' floats.









Finally the racers arrived, a blur of color. We got only glimpses of them through a forest of people taking pictures with their cellphones.











I loved watching so many people coming together, regardless of the reason.

More when I'm not so tired...

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