Election Day in France!

Today started like any other day so far: coffee, bread, and jam.  Then, Emmanuel and Lucile, gathered the kids, strollers, and the token American and walked down the street to the local elementary school in order to vote in the presidential election.  The election today was between the incumbent, Nicolas Sarkozy and the socialist candidate, Francois Hollande.  Each voter is given two 4"x6" sheets of paper. One says "Nicolas Sarkozy", the other says "Francois Hollande".  The voters go into the booth, pick one and put it in a small envelope, then come out of the booth to turn it in to be counted.  Emmanuel pointed out that it is quite an old style, but they seem to have better luck with it than whatever method Florida uses.

After voting, we went to the local market that's open on Sundays and Thursdays, had coffee, bought some groceries, and then went to the park so the kids could play.  Philou and Amande enjoyed the parks toys and Emmanuel informed me that this was (except the voting part) a typical Sunday morning.  Very relaxing.

After the park, we strolled back to the apartment and I readied my things to head into town to check out a museum before I must leave Paris.  (Turns out there's a few museums here.)  It was already afternoon and I didn't want to walk into an art museum without enough time to really immerse myself in it.  So, I chose the Art et Metiers Museum (sort of like a smaller version of the Smithsonian Institute).

It was a bit of an ordeal getting there.  All of the local Velib' bikes (I walked to 4 different depots) were taken.  Lucile had informed me that on Election Day, throngs of leftist voters gather at the Place de la Bastille (I rode through this square on my first day) to wait for the announcement of the election results.  Hmmmm, could be the bikes were all down there.  So, I hopped on a bus and asked the driver if it would get me to the museum I'd selected.  He assured me it would, and I grabbed one of the poles as we headed down the busy avenue.  After a few blocks, I noticed we were going awfully fast for how close the stopped cars were in front of us.  I readied myself for a quick stop just as the driver slammed on the brakes.  I quickly realized that there may be people behind me that were caught be surprise.  Turning around, I put my arms out just in time to catch a man holding onto his two small children.  (I kinda felt like Superman for a second!)  Two ladies hit the floor and everyone else on the bus was also struggling to stay on their feet or even in their seat!  The bus driver took the bus out of gear and came back and apologized profusely, asking several times if everyone was alright.  I could tell that one older lady was slightly injured, but she insisted that she was ok.  It was actually pretty scary.  The bus driver returned to the wheel.  We continued and I got off the bus at my stop.

The museum was a real treat.  Really old compasses, sun dials, clocks, slide rules, and all other sorts of inventions.  There were even old bicycles as well as some ancient flying machines hanging from the ceilings!  I had just enough time to walk through for a couple of hours before it closed at 6pm.

I walked out and decided I should head down to the Bastille to see if folks were gathering yet.  Sure enough, the Velib' stations were totally full, the police had closed the streets, and people were gathering in the square.  As I walked down the avenue, I noticed even more political displays in the streets.  One of them, a clever depiction of Sarkozy as Pinocchio plastered to the pavement, leaving a bollard poking through as his long nose.

I reached the Bastille and bought a gypsy made pork sandwich and sat down on the curb to eat it.  "Bon appetit!" said a grinning black man sitting on my left.  People continued to greet each other and chatted politely even as the crowd filled in and became so dense that people were shoulder to shoulder.  All eyes were trained on the two giant screens showing live media feeds at the north end of the square.  There was a bit too much of a gap between the guy sitting to my right and crowds of people began using it as a thoroughfare down into the street.  That was enough to break the ice and we introduced ourselves.  It turns out this guy's name is Raphael; he's a Frenchman close to my age and speaks perfect English.  I now had a translator!  You could feel and hear the buzz of the crowd crescendo as 8pm (when they announce the election results) drew near.  People were everywhere at this point: on the tops of traffic lights, monument platforms, and even climbing up onto the highest accessible parts of the Colonne de Juillet (the "July Column" at the center of it all).

Precisely at 8pm, the screen showed a photo of Francois Hollande and "51.8%" under it.  The crowd went absolutely wild!  The roar was deafening.  People that had climbed up onto the "July Column" lit and waved flares.  Raphael shouted that we should go climb the column and we took off, pushing our way through the crowd.  Once underneath the column, random people helped us up, guys above grabbing our hands and pulling us up onto the higher levels of the monument.  The energy was palpable with everyone smiling and shouting and waving their arms when the cameras pointed at us or when Holland was shown on the screens.  "C'est fini, Sarkozy!" was the reoccurring chant heard across the square.

Musicians took the giant stage in between the huge screens and we all began dancing.  Slowly, the crowd became so dense that we could no longer move at all.  So, we climbed down and pushed through the crowd to find a beer.  After a little more dancing with some drummers from Ivory Coast, Raphael and another friend (a student from China) escorted me to the subway station.  I said goodbye and shortly thereafter, I was back in the apartment with Emmanuel and Lucille, watching it all continue on the live TV news report.