Le 14 Juillet!

I was bummed about missing the 4th of July in the US, when my fam is usually in the midst of our hard core reunion at the Pond. But the 14th here in France is awesome! The town of Talloires must have spent half its entire budget on these cool little globe paper lanterns, each with its own candle inside, for every single kid in town. The other half of the budget was spent on a pretty impressive fireworks show (though nowhere near Old Mountain Field proportions.)

The kids started up the hill at the post office, and paraded with their parents down to the port on the Lake. The road was closed to all traffic, the entire town was out, a DJ mixed music and you could find all sorts of snacks and drinks. Once the parade reached the port, everyone settled down and found a good spot to watch the "spectacle" out over the lake. The music stared out as corny, older French music, and progressed through the decades up to some real catchy dance beats. The French never skimp their cultural gatherings, it's so great! It really says a lot about what they value - social support structures, time spent with family and friends, good food and good fun! I could get used to this...