Chasing dragons

The weather has been fairly mild in Paris for this time of the year, and an added bonus has been the sunshine we have had. The mild reference may just be a misnomer, as a friend in South Africa pointed out when I mentioned this. Today the sun was out and although it was fresh - read 9 degrees, we bundled up and headed for the Chinese New Year parade in the Marais.

It was not the best idea I've had - my son hates crowds and even though I knew this, I spun a good tale about how exciting it would be to watch the drummers, see the dragon, and something else rather vague about the colours of the flags...anyway, it was convincing enough.

We ended up spending a good part of the parade-watching trying to make it through the crowds so that we could actually see the dragon - which was the big draw, and what a chase it was. I barely managed to take some pictures, over the crowd's cameras and heads and babies-on-shoulders. Along the way, I did get distracted by all the paper lanterns over doorways and windows and though passageways - adding just a hint of that orient mystique to Paris streets.

After the chase we took a side street and headed home.  I may just be taking in some of the New Year celebrations solo, it may be a a hard sell convincing my children that there's more to it than the brief, unspectacular glimpse we caught.