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A Revolutionary Froggy Snog Blog

August 23rd, 2009 · 11 Comments

So, I think we all know from A Tale of Two Cities, that the French Revolution was the worst of times, and that it all started by the storming of the Bastille, the great medieval prison on the right bank in Paris. So I went there today, totally pumped to see the guillotine guys out steam-cleaning the blades and a woman with an enormous, scary mole, leading some filthy peasants in a chant of: “Guillotine! Guillotine!” if only for the benefit of the tourists. (Come on, we keep the cable cars running in San Francisco, and they’re not exactly the cutting edge of public transportation.)

But no, when I got to Place Bastille, what I saw was this:

Metro Bastille

And instead of forboding, rat infested prison, there was this:

Place Bastille

Place Bastille Close

I know? WTF? It turns out that the first French Revolution of 1789 didn’t take. While it was more or less inspired by the American Revolution (and the writings of Jean Jaques Rousseau, who had the audacity to write about the individual rights of man, which had also influenced Jefferson and Adams) it was different in that the people who were revolted against were in the same country as the people who were revolting, and the revolutionaries, or at least their leaders, held this thing they called The Reign of Terror.

Basically imagine this: Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, and Washington kick the bejeezes out of the British, kill all their families, then go, “Well, that went well, let’s take this newly realized power and just continue to slaughter people we disagree with.” That was the Reign of Terror, which led to a military coup, we’ll call that, oh, Napoleon Bonaparte (should be something about him on Wikipedia) who was a little full of himself. Well, stuff happened, Napoleon lost power, the royal aristocracy got power back, so the French had another revolution in 1830, this one creatively named, The July Revolution, so as not to confuse it with the first one, which, of course, also started in July, but on a totally different day. In this second revolution, they kicked out King Charles X. (No, not the ancestor of Malcome.)

This, is the famous painting by Eugene Delecroix, Liberty Leading the People, depicting the July Revolution.

Clearly, Liberty has found the way to motivate her troops.

Liberty Leads etc

So, the French had a couple of more revolutions, which brings us to today, when I went to the Bastille and there was a Farmer’s Market going on…

Where I found these guys:
Drummers

But the main thing I found were fruits, vegetables, and people snogging in public, which is what people do in Paris. Joni Mitchell even wrote a song about it.

Photobucket

Everybody.

Public Snogging 2

On the Right Bank of the Seine:

Girls on the Bank

Park Benches are prime real estate for Public Snogging:

Kissing Bench

Sometimes it’s a glance across a crowded market:

Across a crowded park

Sometimes, even in the market itself:
Salt and Peppa

It’s more or less what everyone is doing or thinking about, unless they’re smoking. Below, one of the new non-smoking sections in Paris:

Fish guy

And we’ll look at the rest of the market and learn some French.

Adieu!

Tags: Travel · Uncategorized

11 responses so far ↓

  • 1 patty // Aug 24, 2009 at 6:05 am

    Best snogging blog ever, as well as history lesson in French liberty boobies! Are you planning on re-writing A Tale of Two Cities, maybe.

    I want the snogging s&ps!

  • 2 Marayna Dickinson // Aug 24, 2009 at 9:08 am

    People snogging is all I see when I’m running at the Jardin des Tuileries – on week days! Disgusting.

  • 3 Sid Prince // Aug 24, 2009 at 10:22 am

    Easily one of the strangest posts I’ve read today.

    I don’t know about you Chris, but I’d feel all left out there. People snogging at every turn? Where’s their sense of inclusiveness? Can a brotha get a little love? I mean.

    Oh, and Lady Liberty? I ain’t mad…

    Sid.

  • 4 Alan // Aug 24, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    I loved this.

  • 5 Denise // Aug 24, 2009 at 6:49 pm

    Brilliant as usual! 🙂

  • 6 Mark A. Rayner // Aug 25, 2009 at 7:32 am

    I once watched a public snogfest in the Tuileries that went on for minutes. They had amazing breath control.

    And the pervy audience (not just me, there were about thirty other people — men and women — watching) was very appreciative: when they finally came up for air they got a nice round of applause.

    Awesome dialog bubbles.

  • 7 Karin // Aug 25, 2009 at 11:58 am

    Chris,
    You should put together a book of all of your photos and captions. Who wouldn’t be proud to display that on their coffee table?

  • 8 Ric // Aug 25, 2009 at 6:25 pm

    No snogging in Kandahar, Afghanistan, in public or elsewhere that I’m aware of. It’s too dry here. Must go to Paris on leave and refresh the memories. Thanks Chris. Love your blog.

  • 9 Heidi // Aug 25, 2009 at 7:28 pm

    I propose a snogging contest between Parisians and Brazilians.

  • 10 Mike Berlin // Aug 28, 2009 at 1:41 pm

    In perfect fucking French

  • 11 Dana Michelle // Sep 2, 2009 at 7:39 am

    Dear Chris,

    Please bring me a snogging salt and pepper shaker as a souvenir. Purple and green. Thanks.

    Love, DM

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