4th of July, Hillary, Public Piano & Chipotle …

Fourth of July in Paris. A few years ago, the city used the occasion to unveil a statue of Thomas Jefferson placed at Pont Solferino, across the Seine from the Jardin des Tuileries. This year, the occasion was marked by the opening of the first Chipotle in France (it actually opened a few weeks back I just found out about it on the 4th; more on this later).

Garden at the Ambassador’s Residence

Like last year, spent the 4th of July at the U.S. Ambassador’s residence. The Ambassador has a very civilized get together at the residence every 4th of July. No BBQ but some good old-fashioned American grub including burgers, fries, onion rings and the like. Dessert was more French style except for a beautifully-done American flag made out of small cups of parfait.

Dessert Flag – Ambassador’s Residence

The newly-appointed French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault gave a speech invoking the long-time strong relations between France and the U.S., reminding everyone that France was America’s first ally (side note: France is the only major country that the U.S. has never fought in a war – at least I think) and a variety of French ministers showed up for the occasion. I generally consider my attendance there as a tax rebate.

U.S. Ambassador Charles Rivkin

A couple days later, I headed back to the Ambassador’s residence for a press conference given by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. She was there attending a “Friends of Syria” conference designed to get everyone onboard to topple the Syrian regime, especially China and Russia who boycotted the event.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – “Friends of Syria” press conference – U.S. Embassy

Went for a short walk through the Jardin des Plantes park and stumbled across a public piano that had been placed there by a British artist named Luke Jerram as part of his world-wide art project called “Play Me, I’m Yours”. Where the piano was placed made for a beautiful scene. When I first saw the piano, two children were playing on it.

Public Piano – Jardin des Plantes

Right before I was about to leave, a maestro walked up to the piano and played a piano version of Hotel California. CLICK HERE to see a bit of video. You really just need to be out and about in this city to get all the entertainment one might need.

Public Piano – Jardin des Plantes

And as I mentioned above, Chipotle have opened their doors in Paris. Despite being the self-appointed monitor of all Mexican food in this city, I hadn’t heard a thing about Chipotle coming to town so imagine my surprise/mild excitement when I saw this at the Ambassador’s residence during the 4th of July party:

Chipotle – Ambassador’s Residence

Some photos of the week:

Watering – Jardin des Plantes

Handcuffs – rue Montorgueil

Mosque of Paris

Lesbophobia campaign – “Each year in France, 6 lesbians out of 10 are victims of lesbophobia”

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