fireworks, firemen, i am on fire

July 14th is Bastille day and national day of France, this year like any other year, they shoot up fireworks next to the Eiffel Tower, the only difference is that I really got to see it up close and personal this time. On the balcony of a friend who moved into a new apartment with a grand view of the Eiffel Tower, we opened numerous bottles of champagne and watched the whole set of fireworks with Mozart in the background. It was so close that ashes and residuals from fireworks, got into our hair, eyes, mouths, clothes and champagne glasses. Smoke from the fireworks blocked our view of Eiffel Tower, the entire thing just disappeared in front of us, until it was lit and glittering in the dark again.

My face was almost black by the end, but maybe that set the tone of the second half of the evening – firemen’s party. It is a French tradition that on Bastille day, in every neighbourhood, all cities in the country, firemen’s hold parties in their lodgement. There I am, surrounded by some very good looking and fit men in uniform, continue to drink champagne and celebrate the official entry to summer. I saw a girl in the arms of a good looking fireman, I said to myself, “did they knew each other before or I got to the party too late?”

In the firemen’s station, surrounded by dozens of fire trucks and, all sorts of fire fighting equipments and an army of fire fighters, my lighter just decided to shut itself off completely, I think it is due to his own psychological fear. The entire evening I had all excuses to have handsome firemen lighting cigarettes for me, I kept wandering weather they were there to put off fires or to light fires.

4h00 in the morning, I decided to call it a night, in order to avoid asking homeless people for light, I had to light a new cigarette before the old one went out. Here is my new method of measuring distance between two places – the firemen’s station is exactly 8 “chain smoking” cigarettes away from my apartment: so far away yet so close!!!

Do I feel the sense of security that someone near will always come by to put out the fire? Or, am I more afraid to be set on fire and burn ?