Festival de la Liberté
7 May 1945 in Rheims, France: "with no remaining options, Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl, representing the German High Command of the armed forces, signed the formal unconditional surrender of all German forces."
Tonight I went with my roommate, Marie, and her friend, Sabrina, to the "Festival de la Liberté" in Saint Martin d'Heres (my town) to celebrate this historic event. We left my apartment at about 9:15 and pulled up to a tiny square in the center of what would appear to be a small french village. It looked like something directly out of a movie: there were christmas lights strung from the trees surrounding a make-shift wooden dance floor full of couples - young and old - moving their feet to the sounds of the band on the stage. The band was pretty good.. The players were dressed up in 1940's garb, in full character and cranking out traditional French tunes from the war-era. Soon enough they began to throw in some "rock and roll musique" and everybody started twisting and be-bopping. They took a break and came back in 60's era type sequined mini skirts and polyester suits and began playing some different stuff. They threw in some American songs and I must say that when YMCA came on I was a bit shocked to find that they'd translated the words into French and nobody knew the hand/arm movements so I felt a bit like a fool. The translation job made me laugh so hard I had a side ache afterward... "c'est gay d'être à l'auberge de jeunesse" in no way translates to "it's fun to be at the YMCA"! But the band did a great job of mixing in songs from all kinds of different eras. I danced all night long, but I must say that the older French men have some moves hidden up their sleeves! I was watching one older couple jitterbug like they were still in their 20s! And there were some young couples out there too who were quite impressive. Why didn't anyone ever teach us to dance like that back home?
It was great to get out of my apartment and experience a little more French culture before I leave here. This entire month so far has been nothing but war commemorations and it's not about to stop, with D-day coming up in June. I never could have understood what a large impact the war had on Europe if I wasn't here to experience things like tonight's "Festival de la Liberté".
Other than that, I have no news. I made fudge last night and Penda loved it. I gave it all away to my Californian friends though because I knew if I had it in the apartment I'd eat it all. Finals are coming up quickly, but that means that I'll be in Madrid before I know it! I'm definitely going to make my last month here worthwhile. Like Marie reminded me tonight, when I was complaining to her about how quickly it's all gone by, my time here has been extremely fulfilling. Non, je ne regrette rien...
Tonight I went with my roommate, Marie, and her friend, Sabrina, to the "Festival de la Liberté" in Saint Martin d'Heres (my town) to celebrate this historic event. We left my apartment at about 9:15 and pulled up to a tiny square in the center of what would appear to be a small french village. It looked like something directly out of a movie: there were christmas lights strung from the trees surrounding a make-shift wooden dance floor full of couples - young and old - moving their feet to the sounds of the band on the stage. The band was pretty good.. The players were dressed up in 1940's garb, in full character and cranking out traditional French tunes from the war-era. Soon enough they began to throw in some "rock and roll musique" and everybody started twisting and be-bopping. They took a break and came back in 60's era type sequined mini skirts and polyester suits and began playing some different stuff. They threw in some American songs and I must say that when YMCA came on I was a bit shocked to find that they'd translated the words into French and nobody knew the hand/arm movements so I felt a bit like a fool. The translation job made me laugh so hard I had a side ache afterward... "c'est gay d'être à l'auberge de jeunesse" in no way translates to "it's fun to be at the YMCA"! But the band did a great job of mixing in songs from all kinds of different eras. I danced all night long, but I must say that the older French men have some moves hidden up their sleeves! I was watching one older couple jitterbug like they were still in their 20s! And there were some young couples out there too who were quite impressive. Why didn't anyone ever teach us to dance like that back home?
It was great to get out of my apartment and experience a little more French culture before I leave here. This entire month so far has been nothing but war commemorations and it's not about to stop, with D-day coming up in June. I never could have understood what a large impact the war had on Europe if I wasn't here to experience things like tonight's "Festival de la Liberté".
Other than that, I have no news. I made fudge last night and Penda loved it. I gave it all away to my Californian friends though because I knew if I had it in the apartment I'd eat it all. Finals are coming up quickly, but that means that I'll be in Madrid before I know it! I'm definitely going to make my last month here worthwhile. Like Marie reminded me tonight, when I was complaining to her about how quickly it's all gone by, my time here has been extremely fulfilling. Non, je ne regrette rien...
posted by Liv at 1:10 AM
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