Three Random Things on One Random Day

Members of an armored cavalry regiment parading on Pont de Grenelle, 15th Arr.

I took a bikeshare to Parc Citroën to use their outdoor exercise equipment this morning. It's not quite three miles from my apartment, and today was the first time in a week that it was not raining or near freezing temperatures, making it about as safe for biking as you could hope for on Paris streets.

On my way back home, I stopped to watch a small military ceremony on the Pont de Grenelle. As far as I can tell, today's date was not of military significance, so it must a specific unit's affair--a promotion, graduation, or awards ceremony, perhaps.

Military units around Paris are a pretty common sight--but they are usually conducting small patrols near government buildings and tourist areas, always in fatigues and armed with assault weapons. This goes back at least to the coordinated terrorist attacks on the Club Bataclan, the Stade-de-France and a kosher grocery store in 2015. The number of patrols has ramped up since the Hamas attack in Israel last October 7. Out in force, these groups of four to six soldiers are formidable and intimidating. Not surprisingly, to a person they look fantastically fit even under body armor and with rifles ported at chest-level. Weaving through the crowds without passing a word between one another, each soldier's face has the icy glare of someone who wishes they had made better career choices. True to French form, different units sport their own chic headgear with a panache that would make the US Army chain of command crap a pineapple.

Yet as photogenic as they are, I would never feel comfortable photographing any active military patrol. All those SAEDA (Subversion And Espionage Directed against the US Army) and OPSEC (Operational Security) briefings must have stuck with me for all these years, because I'm still reluctant to get too nosy about which units are deployed where and doing what at any given time. In a tourist town like Paris, I'm sure the soldiers are used to having cameras pointed at them all day long. But I can't imagine that being so conspicuous makes them feel at ease about patrolling crowded areas with live ammo.

On the other hand, units on patrol apparently have very narrow directives beyond staying frosty for serious trouble and projecting a calm, slightly menacing presence. I've seen Three Card Monty hustlers fleecing tourists right next to military vehicles, and have watched municipal police officers chase suspects (usually young African men selling tchotchkes to tourists near the Eiffel Tower) past groups of soldiers who could have easily stuck out a boot to trip the perp. So at least they don't have to deal with too many unnecessary distractions.

Later that day, we walked the dog over to Office Depot (the very same chain) to print some documents I needed to get notarized at the US embassy. On the way home, we came upon a small herd of sheep tasked with grazing the lawns leading up to Napoleon's tomb at the Hôtel des Invalides. The Hôtel also houses the Musée de l'Armée (Army museum) and its own grounds are overrun with hundreds of rabbits that spend all day nibbling the grass between the topiary and down in the dry moats. Like their leporidaean kin, the sheep were oblivious to any urban commotion around them and calmly went about their business of doing nothing.

Some brebis, taking a well-deserved break from their hectic urban lifestyle, 7th Arr.

Apropos of nothing, we later spotted a stilletto-heeled shoe made of chocolate in a shop window. Amusing, but not really practical or appetizing. So basically, like any other pair of heels.

Sure it's delicious, but you try patrolling Paris all day in them.