Bastille Day

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Today was a beautiful Sunday in Minneapolis, so we figured why not head on over to the Bastille Day celebration at Barbette. After a short bus ride with a maniac driver (he arrived late, yelled at us for getting on too slowly, saying “come on come on I’ve got THINGS to do!”…and drove about 50 mph down residential streets where the posted limit was 30 mph…) we arrived in Uptown and decided to step over to Bar Abilene for a quick dinner before the block party. Since we’re back on the vegetarian path, we decided on this place because they have the very best portobello mushroom fajitas we’ve ever tasted. Not that many resaurants even offer this version. Trust me, they’re the best. Pair that with some Newcastles and you’ll be a happy diner. Oh, and on the way there I noticed that “Gonzo”, a film about the life of Hunter H. Thompson is rolling over at the Lagoon. I’m so there…Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. He’s a sort of hero of mine. Can’t wait!

         

After our tasty mealage, we headed over to Bobby Bead which had closed 10 minutes before we got there. A boo-hoo. Off to the Bastille Day block party.

I have a rather wild imagination and was expecting a fantastic environment consisting of a combination street fair and flea market with food booths, jugglers and flame eaters in the streets, a cabaret going on over to the side and some mimes mixing in with the crowd. Oh, and some French accordion music going on. Me and my imagination.

What we got was crowds of Uptown hipster twenty somethings (with the occasional middle-ager sprinked in) milling around doing absolutely nothing while drinking Pabst Blue Ribbons. Everybody, I kid you not, was drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon. Wha…? There was a roller derby going on, tres French! The “flea market” was a few little booths including a Barack Obama booth, hippy dippy trippy jewelry and what else…Pabst Blue Ribbon. Don’t get me wrong, Barbette is great. But they do the Bastille Day thing all wrong if you ask me.

Overall, it was a complete and utter disappointment.

Utter.

The very French inspired Roller Derby

    

An entire block of people. Just milling around.

 

The proud and loyal supporters of Pabst Blue Ribbon

Until….Black Blondie came on stage. They rocked, the singer sounded like a dead ringer for Amy Winehouse (who I happen to like, problems aside) and there was some very interesting tempo changes going on with very imaginative keyboard sounds. Loved them.

Black Blondie, saving the day

But…where are my can-can dancers? Where is my cabaret? Where are the mimes and the french food and the accordion music and….and…crepes!

It was nice to get out in the lovely sun, people watch and make fun of some young hipster doofuses though. Next year, I’ll reserve a table at the restaurant across the street and listen to the free concert while staying about 100 yards away from the Pabst Blue Ribbon addicts.

Cheer Hooray and Yay for Bastille Day! (July 14th…)

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Tags: bar abilene, barbette, bastille day, crazy bus driver, minneapolis, portobello mushrooms