St. Patrick's Day in France

I figured since we were so close to Ireland (well, relatively close compared to the States), St. Patrick's Day would be celebrated in France. To my disappointment, it is barely celebrated here. Even the Irish bars in Montpelllier's neighborhood didn't have any Guinness or Killian's specials. It was really surprising. I guess I am used to the American celebration. People didn't really wear green, there were no decorations anywhere and there was only one real event, that I was aware of. Some of the bars had live Irish music but there were cover charges and it started late. :(

At the biggest English bookstore here, called "Book in Bar", they had a 30 minute presentation from a real live Irish man (who incidentally was a singer in an Irish band). He told us a lot about the history of St. Patrick, the celebration in Ireland and we got to see Gaelic written out. We learned the Gaelic alphabet, which was really interesting. In Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is a national holiday and nothing is really open. St. Patrick's Day is now a week-long celebration in Ireland and there are tons of bands that perform in parades and on St. Patrick's Day night they have fireworks!

Oh, I also learned that the alcohol content in beer in Ireland is much lower than it is in France. Which explains why people say they can drink 10 pints and still be able to stand. If you did that here, you might not be so strong. I can't remember the exact percentage but I know in Ireland it was like 2-3% alcohol and here it's like 6-8% alcohol.

After the little presentation (complete with a little handout), there was a free beer tasting at the Book in Bar (they are also a cafe, by the way). We got to have some Guinness and Killian's. Killian's tasted a bit different here than I am used to in the US. I was told that it's brewed differently and in the US, we have a lot more carbonation in beer in general in comparison. After the presentation and free beer tasting, we just headed over to my place and sat on my back porch and drank more Irish and German beers and enjoyed the nice weather that is finally starting to present itself here in Southern France.