Another thing we did last week was go to a BBQ. Friday night our friend called us up and asked if we wanted to go to BBQ at La Gare D'eau which means "water station". We didn't know where that was so we had him meet up with us. On our way we stop at a grocery store to pick up liquor and I'm thinking "Okay, so is this a byob restaurant or something?" but keep it to myself. We meet a couple more friends and they have a bag full of chips and snacks so now I'm wondering if it's at someone's house.
We keep walking and we're going through a park right next to the river. It's got a really nice view of the citadel and the restaurants nearby look fancy. Now I'm back to wondering if we are going to a restaurant and start sweating about how much this is going to cost us. Suddenly, our friend starts veering off into the grass and I notice a big group of people with some familiar faces next to a stack of pallets right by the river. It looks like we're going to have our BBQ in the park!
We sit down and soon enough, someone breaks up one of the pallets and starts a fire right there on the grass in a public park. After a little bit I turn to JN and whisper, "Is this legal?" to the response "Not technically, but no one cares." Meanwhile a police station is within a three minute walking distance. So here's a 10-15 people group drinking and starting a fire in a public park right next to a police station. Okie-dokey. Could you imagine this happening in the US?!
What made it even funnier was a little later, when it was getting darker and you could here the river rising and lapping just a few feet away from us, I casually mentioned we should have brought fishing rods. Everyone started freaking out, "Are you crazy?! You can't fish here! You'll get fines, maybe even jail time if you get caught too often!" Note to self: it is okay to start fires in public places, but do not fish or heaven help you.
They cooked sausage and bacon (which according to Jeremy is absolutely nothing like our bacon) and fun times were had. It was very relaxing, especially compared to when we're all in a bar. Eventually we called it an early night (at 1 am, they party late here) because I didn't have the nerve to add to my lawless behavior by urinating in public.
We keep walking and we're going through a park right next to the river. It's got a really nice view of the citadel and the restaurants nearby look fancy. Now I'm back to wondering if we are going to a restaurant and start sweating about how much this is going to cost us. Suddenly, our friend starts veering off into the grass and I notice a big group of people with some familiar faces next to a stack of pallets right by the river. It looks like we're going to have our BBQ in the park!
We sit down and soon enough, someone breaks up one of the pallets and starts a fire right there on the grass in a public park. After a little bit I turn to JN and whisper, "Is this legal?" to the response "Not technically, but no one cares." Meanwhile a police station is within a three minute walking distance. So here's a 10-15 people group drinking and starting a fire in a public park right next to a police station. Okie-dokey. Could you imagine this happening in the US?!
What made it even funnier was a little later, when it was getting darker and you could here the river rising and lapping just a few feet away from us, I casually mentioned we should have brought fishing rods. Everyone started freaking out, "Are you crazy?! You can't fish here! You'll get fines, maybe even jail time if you get caught too often!" Note to self: it is okay to start fires in public places, but do not fish or heaven help you.
They cooked sausage and bacon (which according to Jeremy is absolutely nothing like our bacon) and fun times were had. It was very relaxing, especially compared to when we're all in a bar. Eventually we called it an early night (at 1 am, they party late here) because I didn't have the nerve to add to my lawless behavior by urinating in public.