We celebrate the fall of the Berlin Wall via our electronic connections

It’s pretty clear by now that we haven’t built up a resistance to the strain of common cold we encounter each time we come to France. Doug’s pretty much recovered by now, but Lennie is still in rest mode after our return from Saturday dinner two nights ago. It was pretty chilly when we walked back to the apartment, and Lennie feels it grabbed at her throat.

So we’re staying in for a couple days at least. Our interest in being at Place de la Concorde for France’s official observance of the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago tonight waned in favor of catching the Paris and Berlin ceremonies on television and on the web. Both the France 24 and Deutsche Welle online sites had extensive coverage. Multi-tasker Doug was in hog heaven, with two websites up in windows on his laptop and over-the-air coverage on the apartment’s TV set. (Lennie was the picture of tolerance.) As noted in yesterday’s post, his enthusiasm for the anniversary has its roots in the two years he served in Berlin in the mid-1960s after studying German at the Defense Language Institute at the Presidio of Monterey, CA. Circumventing the Wall’s formidable barrier for various purposes was an ongoing mission during his Berlin time.

So that explains today’s photographs, all of which are scenes in Paris and Berlin on the Internet and on television. Their quality leaves much to be desired, but it's the best we could do under the circumstances in capturing this historic event. The 20th anniversary of any event seems especially important; most of the participants are still alive and well, and memories are strong. The 25th anniversary of the East Germans’ triumph probably won’t be noted nearly as much as today’s event, coming only five years hence, and we can’t anticipate what the enthusiasm will be in 2019. Suffice to say, the Germans and French executed today’s anniversary beautifully, and we were delighted to be in Europe to see it.