Halloween and All Saints Day

Haloween in Paris: First of all, let me point out that the holiday is not nearly as popular here as it is in America. We barely saw any kids dressed up, and we had to search for Halloween events to make sure we saw anyone in costume at all. Also, our options for buying costumes were slim; not very many purely Halloween stores here. We decided to make ours instead!

When we have seen certain Americans in Paris, presumably just visiting for a few days, we can spot them from a mile away. Cameras, weird screen printed shirts of cats or the American flag or something from the souvenir kiosk down the road, and of course, speaking English loudly. I realize this is the extreme stereotype, but we have seen many people just like this. I mean, we live 2 minutes from the Eiffel Tower, the mecca for all tourists! Being the "sophisticated," culturally sensitive, assimilated Americans in Paris we like to think we are, we think it so funny when we cross paths with these people. Alas, we chose to let down our guard for the night to be obnoxious American tourists!

Let me explain a few aspects of the costumes: jean vest over a horse t-shirt; tye dye; cameras flashing at every instant; running shoes with jeans; sweat pants; baseball hat; 50 cent t-shirt and a pink hearts Paris hat; and of course, the American flag. We acted out the part perfectly, being loud on the metro, taking thousands of pictures, speaking only English and acting surprised if anyone didn't immediately speak it right back to us... it was so fun! So many people would stare at us and turn their heads to watch as we walked by! It was more than just a costume. We owned it.

For the evening we went on a pub crawl organized by the lovely Sylvia (aka Lady Gaga). We found it on the internet under Paris meet up groups of course. We had a blast seeing other people dress up, moving around from pub to pub, dancing... and especially hearing people guess our costumes exactly. Success!

Being that the next day was All Saints Day, we decided to continue the celebrations. Naturally, we went to breakfast at a place called Breakfast in America (we waited over and hour an a half in line out the door to get in, it's that good). Pancakes, American coffee, bacon, eggs, hash browns, breakfast burritos! It was so good and worth the wait. Good news to the people still waiting outside while it was pouring rain!

After breakfast we went to the famous cemetery, Pere Lachaise. Here lies Edith Piaf, Jim Morrison, Balzac, Oscar Wilde, and the likes. We thought All Saints Day would be an appropriate day to visit since many other people would also be paying respects to their ancestors. It rained almost the whole time we were there and leaves were falling all over, adding to the fall/gloomy atmosphere. Quite an experience.