Something you'll never do, so I did it for you! Fête de l'Humanité
 

This weekend there were 3 major events in Paris -- the European Heritage days, the techno parade and the Fête de l'Humanité out at Le Bourget.

Well, I went to the <i>Fête de l'Huma</i> because it is a source of infinite anthropological fascination for me, and 650,000 other people decided to go there as well.

Read the report for the full explanation of what this event is, but I particularly encourage people who are worried about what to wear during their French holidays to totally scrutinize the apparel of all of these non tourists.

Here is the report: http://tinyurl.com/humanite

I would have blended perfectly with that crowd wearing my neon lime green backpack. :D

Wow! That's alot of humanity! Thanks for taking one for the team, kerouac!

LisaG

Was the Zagat guy there to get ratings on the food offerings at the fete?

Once again you've shown us a very different slice of life in Paris, kerouac!

Was that you in the superman T-shirt? Di

Thanks for that, kerouac. We considered going, but I'm on crutches, and it's hard enough to get around in normal Paris crowds, never mind ones of that proportion.

As for people worrying about what to wear in Paris, I couldn't agree more. We've had great fun taking short videos from our local café here in Ménilmontant of the passersby for the past few days. You couldn't dream up some of the outfits that have passed us by, and the notion that jeans and sneakers are verboten is downright silly. Of course, we're in a pretty working class part of town, not someplace that's a magnet for most visitors.

I am planning to wear a beret and walk on stilts next time I visit Paris.

This is, as usual, just great stuff.

At least you have finally seen some French people wearing a beret -- that is very rare in this part of the country!

Thank you, Kerouac. Great photo-journalism, as always. Bravo.

Some people from where we're currently staying went up to Paris for this. I hope you got their photos. But I won't be able to look at your report till our trip ends and we have permanent, never-off wifi.

Lefties (who live in free countries) always have the best parties. Looks like great fun!

Berets: they were all over Perigord, and I assume the Basques still wear them, but I do fear they are gone elsewhere. The guys on stilts, by the rest of their costumes, looked to be Basques. I want to see them play pelota on stilts!

Thanks, Kerouac, would have loved to be there. The photos of the baklavas have me drooling.

Very interesting, as always. Thanks, comrade!

<< The guys on stilts, by the rest of their costumes, looked to be Basques.>>

The guys on stilts come from Les Landes (maybe elsewhere, too, but they're definitely Landais for the most part). It's a weird part of France - they eat ortolans there still and walk around on those crazy stilts.

You do see lots of berets in the Périgord...Gascony, too, which we just drove through a couple of days ago. And sometimes in the Périgord you see the traditional black brimmed hats, though most often they are for show at the markets. There's a guy in Paris on the rue de Buci who sells saucisson d'âne who wears one, too.

Very good report.
It's the first time I've seen grilled corn in France.

There was a guy grilling corn right outside the Père Lachaise métro every day this past week. He seemed to have a regular clientele. We were surprised, too.

I am surprised that nobody has mentioned the Country Popcorn guy selling popcorn made in the "Texan tradition" to communists. :-)

The campground, La Rivière, where we had to go to get wifi in the Périgord, has a huge machine where you can buy Le Pop.

Nice report, Kerouac. But where oh where are the photos of New Order and Patti Smith? All we get is doughy Pete Doherty?

The guy in front of the Roter Oktober Bier stand looks like he's about to do the robot. Stellar capture.

Love the sign from the Mauritania lefties. They obviously don't mince words.

Thanks for sharing this!