France - Post 8 - Parisian Picnic

Hey everyone,

On Saturday, some of my friends and I went down to Notre Dame off of the “La Seine” river to engage in some Parisian style picnicking. You may be wondering what that entitles. It is very common, depending on the time of day and the area, to see groups of friends with a bottle or two of wine and food having a pic-nick.
This may seem odd to some people since public drinking is frowned upon in the US but remember that there are different cultural aspects that allow for this to be an enjoyable event instead of a more dangerous act. Before I go further I would like to clarify that I am not saying it is any safer here than in the US but when I’ve seen people here drinking, it has been in a more casual setting where there is less pressure to finish the bottle quick and more emphasis on enjoying one’s company regardless of how much you drink.

I believe this to be due, in part, to lower drinking age, the act of drinking itself not being seen as deviant, the penalties and consequences being placed more on the people who abuse alcohol than the people who are just casually drinking, more lax on the drinking age since age does not necessarily imply a certain level of maturity, and with drinking being more culturally accepted, there is less incentive to defy the system by drinking in spite of it. The latter reason also gives incentive to families to introduce their children into casual drinking etiquette instead of being exposed without prior knowledge to other situations where a good base would have been very helpful. An example that I feel adequate but maybe a little too simple would be driving. We can learn to drive safely because our families accept that we will be driving eventually as does the society and so you get training in it at both levels before you get into a situation where you’re judgment could be hindered because of external distractions and unlucky chance. Again, I recognize that people aren’t necessarily dependent on society to teach them everything and maybe things are better learned independently but if the intentions good and the focus is on teaching people how to deal in different REAL scenarios instead of on “protecting” us from situations in which there is a possibility, no matter how slim, that we will find ourselves, I personally believe that the results could be more positive than negative.

            Back to La Seine River and Notre Dame, not only are there people sitting on either sides of the river and on the bleachers enjoying their Parisian picnic, there were different types of entertainers to add to the river scene. In this case, since it was nighttime, the entertainers that performed would utilize fire and other types of illuminating objects in their acts to create illusions and other visually stimulating marvels. This was what was happening directly in front of Notre Dame.

            As for what was happening on the banks of the river, there were different occurrences. Due to the difference in the river’s setup, there was room for many more entertainers. The comparison is seen in how the people settle down. What I mean is that on the side of the river, there is a long stretch of walkway with a wall on both sides of the river going down I don’t know how far. People would typically be sitting on the wall giving space in the walkway where singers and other types of performers would come and entertain a small area of the walkway. That being said, the walls were filled with people and the walkways had different amusements every 10-20ft. In front of Notre Dame however, there was only a set of bleachers that gave a stage-like atmosphere where a couple people would have an act, or a single, very talented person would show for everyone there. All in all, it was a very exciting new experience for me to be out with friends in a very public atmosphere with some food and wine enjoying a very miniscule portion of what Paris had to offer.

Thanks for reading and until next post!