ALL FIRED UP

Love is all around in French capital as fireworks light up

RICK LYONS AS I approach a French fireman to ask if he’ll pose for a photo with us, my wife Rachel cringes with embarrassment.

“It’s not like getting a selfie with Mickey Mouse at Disneyland,” she says, rolling her eyes.

I dredge up some broken GCSE French from somewhere back in the 90s and he replies with a beaming “oui, bien sur”. His colleague offers to do the honours, we slot in next to him and all say a group “fromage”.

Rachel should have had more faith. This pair of pompiers were odds-on to be in a good mood as it’s the one day a year their station, 6° Cie CS Grenelle in Paris, is prepared to party.

July 14 – Bastille Day – is a national celebration commemorating the storming of the Bastille Prison, a turning point in the 1789 French Revolution.

Tradition has it that on this day each year Parisian fire stations open their doors to the public and host a good old shindig.

The photo request wasn’t the only question I asked a uniformed officer that evening. The other was: “Can I have a beer?”

Firemen were behind the bar and working as bouncers. The ones not serving drinks were standing around drinking them.

These so-called Bals de Pompiers are known for being real social melting pots. As well as bringing together firemen and civilians of all ages to socialise, they also attract the tourists. The common attraction? The pounding bass and cheesy synths of a Europop disco.

A DJ presided over a dance floor in the station’s open-air courtyard where the throng of revellers were energetically shaking their stuff.

It felt a long way from how we started the day – eating free pick ’n’ mix in the executive lounge of the Hilton Paris Opera as we waited for our room to be prepared.

After a sugar overload, the queensized bed in our accommodation was perfect for a quick lie down. Equally welcome was the huge bathroom with a fancy “rain shower” and free bottle of wine.

Best of all though was the hotel’s location on the Rue Saint-Lazare in the city’s 8th Arrondissement, making it a well-placed spot from which to explore.

During our two-day trip, we crammed in plenty of Parisian culture in the form of the Louvre, the Museum of Modern Art and the Orangerie.

We even managed an open-top bus ride and an open-sided boat ride.

If you pay a fixed amount up front, the Paris Pass grants access to more than 60 attractions, including both must-see destinations and lots of others you wouldn’t have thought of.

In the course of our adventures we made the following discoveries. The Louvre is so enormous it is best to take in one section (we chose some old Dutch masterpieces on the quiet second floor, including Vermeer’s The Lacemaker).

The Orangerie, housing Monet’s Water Lilies, is a beautiful bite-sized gallery you can squeeze in when you have a spare hour or two. And for