Peaceful Thousands
- psaintjohn
- Jun 22
- 3 min read
Updated: Jun 23
It was Saturday, the day and evening in France known as Music Day or La Fête de la Musique, This day has been celebrated in France since 1982 on June 21st. We heard the place to go to hear music in Nice was near the centrally located Place Massena and in the nearby Vieux Nice (lovely old old town). Walking took 10 minutes and foot traffic picked up as we got to the large open public square, where loud music announced - a tribute and recognition of the current anguish and suffering by citizens of Palestine. As tourists threaded through the orderly group that were holding Palestinean flags, many stopped or waved in support. Others gathered near a small booth selling flags and scarves that had more information on the heartache and dispair of this war.
We watched as they unfurled a 40 foot long banner that had the names of thousands of ciitizens and loved ones printed on it, from the very young to the very old, that had been killed in the war. There was a quiet police presence on the outskirts of the crowd but no media was there filiming nor covering that we could see.
In stark contrast, following the joyful shrieking of children, we then walked into the park next door and found a playground of water spouts covering a flat area the size of a footballl field. Children of all sizes were running through the water, playing catch or kick ball, tag, or just standing or laying in the inches of coolness while parents watched or picnicked on the sidelines, occasionally joining in the fun.
We walked further into Vieux Nice, part of a moving wave of tourists and locals. Walking out the sea side of the old town we crossed the coast street to the Promenade des Anglais, a wonderful walking, sitting, viewing area which runs three miles along the curving bay of Nice.
The almost 400,000 residents of Nice are now swelled by hundreds if not thousands of tourists enjoying the Riviera summer months. We marveled that so many of them seemed to be celebrating this lovely Saturday evening that promised music along the Prom. Many were swimming, walking, riding bikes and scooters, gathering in blanket parties on the beach, or just watching everyone waching them while sittiing in the seaside's famous blue chairs.
Cafe's along the inland side of the Prom were packed, some with balconies that seemed to be swaying under the number of people they contained. Every age was represented, but I do believe that every teen in Nice, from the age of 12 -18 was out that night - dressed in some of the latest teen fashions - either ruffled layered short skirts or slightly loose pants with a strappy top for girls, and long pants for boys. They gathered in friendly chattering groups and boogied to the different bands or music playing everything from disco hop to melodic African trible playing on the terraces outside of many of the restaurants and cafe's.
One particulary interesting event was the drum group - that was making enough noise, well, for a drum corps!! There might have been 50 of them beating in rhythm with rapt attention to their conductor, and their faces showed delight in their syncronized performance and cadence. Their sheer energy rolled into the crowd and insisted that those watching dance to the beat.
As it grew darker, the cafe' tables invited hundreds to sit, talk and eat, and we headed to a terraced hotel that we knew would offer a bit of quiet. The amazing part of the evening was that with all of the thousands of people that were out enjoying the warm summer night, we did not see nor hear of any age misbehaving in any fashion. In France, the legal age to drink is 18, but this is not strictly observed.
It is severly frowned on to overimbibe, and this family friendly ruling seems mostly to be respected.
Hand in hand, we walked home along the Boulevard Victor Hugo, the gracious stone six-story Belle Époque apartment buildings and giant Sycamore trees on either side sheltering us and over a hundred years of history.
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