Pigeons, Elections and Jazz Bands

I find it amusing to watch pigeons as they congregate on statues.  Here you have Pope Someone the 7th, there Napoleon III, a pigeon on the pope's head, another on Napoleon's hand.  A monument to the importance of the person, austere and grand in its scale and countenance, covered in poop.

"pigeons on a pope," a watercolor by Mari

It is only about three weeks since I myself, having just finished a steaming cup of Angelina's hot chocolate, emerging from the historic gathering place of aristocrats (this I read in the restaurant's high brow description), feeling regal as ever, was pooped on by a pigeon.  And this was no average pigeon - perhaps he or she too had just finished a pitcher of Angelina's hot chocolate (it is after all supposed to be the best in Paris) - no, this was a pigeon with a stomach ache, laying not one, not two, but several plops on my shoulder.

Whether my pigeon friend had very good taste in hot chocolate, or whether it was just having a bad day, in either case, I sympathise with statues.  In fact, I think that in an attempt to honor someone by making a statue of them, one actually ensures their continuous indignity.  Now Louis XIV, in his numerous statue forms will be pooped on for centuries.  How's that for glorifying the great historical men and women (let's be real, most statues in this country are of men).  Oh, pardon me, Louis XIV definitely erected all of his statues in his own honor.  Well Mr. Sun King, if you are looking for someone to blame for the poop on your shoulder, look in the mirror.

Speaking of political men, France, as you likely know, is currently tensely suspended between the two rounds of their presidential election.  Amidst all of the opinions regarding the impending election, I have little to add but for this photo:

Watch Hollande's campaign video here.

Apparently François Hollande, the candidate up against Nicolas Sarkozy, researched the tactics that Barack Obama used in his 2008 campaign in order to try to earn young French votes in this election.  The result?  A video of him travelling through the suburbs of Paris set to "Ni**as in Paris," by Jay-Z and Kanye West.  It's pretty fascinating, actually.  When I told my boss, he was indignant, "Yes, that is very interesting, but France and America are very different, you know?  The young people here, they are very fed up.  Many of them voted for Le Pen."  And indeed, on a sunny walk through the marais, I stumbled upon a graffiti of Hollande in Shepard Fairey style captioned, "NO HOPE."

That wasn't the only sign of America I encountered on my walk that day.  After three weeks of rain in this lovely city (no sarcasm), I decided to profit from the sun after work.  I strolled by park lawns covered with people, past the lines for falafel and stopped when I heard the squawks of a clarinet playing some 1920s tune.  Hidden by a circle of spectators was a small band of old Americans playing jazz and swing.  An old woman danced along to their music, swaying and spinning in every direction and little kids ran up to throw them coins.  I danced home on the metro with a smile on my face.

And there you were, thinking pigeons, elections and jazz bands had nothing in common...

Call me nostalgic...but they were darn cute!

These Americans have been getting their groove on for years it seems.