PARIS -- June 2006

     We happened to be in the Marais on Gay Pride Day June 2006.  We usually stay on the Left Bank when visiting Paris, but had just returned for one night after a week in Provence and decided to stay near the Gare de Lyon.  That way, we would be able to walk to our hotel from the train station, eliminating a costly taxi ride.  I expected a quiet night, having dinner near our hotel and turning in early since we were catching our flight back home the next morning.  What was I thinking??  We were in Paris, andwhen you are in Paris, and when it's your last night in Paris, YOU DO NOT TURN IN EARLY!  We arrived at our hotel, threw down our luggage, and we were out of there. 
   Once on the streets, the crowds in the Marais seemed unusually large.  In fact, the streets were packed!  We had been in Provence for a week, had not read a newspaper, had not seen a television, had not remembered it was Gay Pride Day. 
   Had we stayed on the Left Bank we most likely would have been oblivious to this totally happening event.  It was quite the festive atmosphere.  The Bastille no longer looked like a monument, covered as it was with bodies gyrating along with music blaring from the massive speakers surrounding it. 
   As we stood in queue for gelato at Amorino, 31 rue Vieille du Temple, I asked to snap this stunning photo.  I love it for the contradictions... and there are many; but especially the chiffon against the graffiti.  Certainly a memorable evening in Paris.  And if you ask my daughter what her favorite part of the trip was, without pause, she shoots back -- What do you think?  Gay Pride Day, of course!