Why do I not carry my camera around all the time???

Most people know that the French have a special talent for turning anything into protest material. What might not be as apparent, however, is that they also have a special talent for turning public gatherings into an unabashed show of ridiculous, particularly when there's an easy theme to link up with. In this case, we're in the Christmas season, so there are events involving people dressed up as Santa. Yesterday, Niamh and I witnessed the perfect mix of these two traditions when we stumbled on a political protest where all the protestors were dressed as Santa Claus. I think I will regret not having my camera with me for the rest of my life, HAHA. We couldn't quite gather what they were protesting, but it was clear that they wanted someone to be freed. From jail? We don't know. All we could make out from the guy wearing RED TIGHTS, A RED SPEEDO, A SANTA CAPE, A SANTA BEARD AND A SANTA HAT was the phrase "libérez..." We're pretty sure it was a person. The protest was at the Place Monge, where there's a big branch of the Garde Républicaine (kind of the French secret service, although it's also the home of what would be the Army band and general units that participate in pomp and circumstance events like military parades). We don't know if that's why they were at Monge or not. And in the end, we were too captivated by the dude in the red tights and speedo and the 50 or 60 people following him...all of whom were dressed as Santa. Every single one. Oh yes.

Then today was the Santa-themed rollerblading outing. Since I was aware of this event, I was ready and armed with my camera:


They even served us spiced wine at the break in the middle of the route!

Anyway, the weekend just keeps getting better and better. Friday I had my acupuncture session followed by a (terrible) play and then a (great) birthday party. Saturday featured kickboxing aerobics (my knee is still cursing me) and then a Finnish Christmas party. Today was of course Day of the Rollerblading Santas, and now, to top it all off, I'm off to the weekly gay dance party, where the featured theme is Britney! Oh yessssss!!! Complete with a dance competition and what Niamh has said is a room full of the most gorgeous guys she's seen in her life. Gay or not, sign me up!