France : Parties, parties, parties !

If France could vote in the U.S. election, 76 per cent would elect Obama reveals a poll published by sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche [fr] . At 3pm local time on this crucial Tuesday, for lack of hard news on the outcome of the election, the French blogosphere and Twitter is abuzz with another vital matter: where to spend election night? Where are the best parties in Paris?

Pierrick Leurent [fr] has listed on his blog the official venues, along with En3mots : The “official” election party will be held at the Cine Aqua on the Trocadero (Paris equivalent to the “Sea World” theme park). This specific party, where the French media brass and the American officials in Paris will wine and dine, launched a tiny storm in a Champagne glass on Twitter. At €120 (140$) per guest, it is a very un-democratic party.  @Myriam and many other scorn :

120 euros pour rester entre soi, quelle barrière de sécurité plus efficace, dear ?

120€ to remain among your own kind of people, this is the ultimate security check, dear…

@ Heuristocrat, an American in Paris, thinks nevertheless it will be worth it [en] :

Yeah but the food and drinks will be great and the crowd is a who's who”.

There will be parties for every budget, starting at 5€  with the “Young Democrats abroad” party near the Arc de Triomphe (Barrack Obagels will be served at 3am). The townhall of the 3rd arrondissement (district) in Paris will be open all night and crowded since everything will be Obama and free: art exhibitions, debates, two feature films (Little Miss Sunshine” and “Collision”),  wifi, and  lots of complementary wine. The staunchest supporters, who organized Obama support in France will be found at the “Nuit Obama” (Obama night), hosted in a tennis club, in a suburb close to Paris.

Hotels and restaurants have jumped on the occasion to launch theme parties and menus: the culinary blog A Table reports that the Concorde Lafayette Hotel will serve “Presidential Burgers” tonight, with two choices: The O Burger (fresh tomatoes, grilled gambas, curry and pineapple) versus the… “Elephant Burger” (roasted lamb and guacamole).  It will be 3AM in Paris when the first results will be announced, so Breakfast-in-America will be cooking pancakes all night in the Latin Quarter to sustain the anxious crowd. In the mean time, nightclubbers are welcome at La Régence  club where DJ Vynilove will groove the Paris wants Obama party (hot dogs galore).

Even the tiniest towns in rural France are in Obama mode today, down to Pfaffenhoffen (pop. 2,468), next to the German border, where the community cultural center will stay open all night, with giant television screens to follow the results.

But, what if….barakmaniaque [fr ] .. to conjure the worst, has left this pledge in a blog comment:

si mc cain est élu je fais montparnasse place de l etoile tout nu en velib

If McCain wins,  I will bike naked from Montparnasse to Place de l'étoile

Nobody wants to face that.

[Suzanne Lehn contributed to this post]

2 comments

  • […] Today, on election day in the United States, African bloggers have offered solidarity to Obama, a Venezuelan blogger wrote a poem about the impossibility of a Black man winning the election, and in Paris bloggers are planning parties, parties, parties. […]

  • IHP

    Well, let see what will happen for our following elections.

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