France does not really do St. Patrick's Day. I mean, really, why should they? There are no parades of people in tartan, wearing shamrock earrings, or "Kiss Me, I'm Irish" t-shirts. The canals aren't dyed a bright florescent lime color. No one will be drinking copious amounts of food-dye laden beer in Strasbourg today. Kids in school will not come home with pinch marks because they wore blue instead of green. It will be a normal day in France today.
In fact, in over a year I haven't seen any signs whatsoever of homage to Irish heritage. So I was extremely surprised at what I saw in a store window yesterday. I took a different street than I normally do, passing a costume shop on my way to Galeries Lafayette. There in the window were two mannequins dressed up to resemble a leprechaun and an Irish lassie (although she probably looks more Scottish than Irish). For all those people who aren't familiar with the holiday there was a balloon to clarify why they were dressed this way. So there is at least one person in Strasbourg who knows about St. Patrick's Day. They are probably an American ex-pat like me.
Anyways, happy St. Patrick's Day to all those who do celebrate it. Enjoy your green festivities!
That's funny, because even in Egypt all the known expat shops would have Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day regalia up. Not to mention copious amounts of Christmas decorations in a country that's 98% Msuslim! It's funny how out of place those things feel when it's not in your back yard. But of course, I ALWAYS hate seeing the Christmas aisle in stores fill up the day after Halloween. That's just not right.
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