Today is July13th.France is getting ready to celebrate "la prise de la Bastille" on July 14th 1789, when la Bastille, a symbolic prison in Paris was taken over by the people "le peuple". It was the D Day of the French Revolution and became France's National Day and so a Bank Holiday. On July 13th, towns and villages organise their "bal du 14 juillet " (dance) and feu d'artifice (fireworks). Again, "une fête populaire"!
July 14th called "Bastille Day" by the British is actually called "Le 14 juillet" by the French!! Biensûr!!
14th July is a more official affair with military parades :"le défilé du 14 juillet" (this link is really worth looking at) all over France and particularly in Paris on the Champs Elysées.
Not wanting to start a whole history lesson, it is worth mentionning a few classics:
- "la Marseillaise", the national anthem was written by Rouget de Lisle and only adopted by the nation in 1792. Lyrics and audio in French with translation.
- "Liberté,égalité, fraternité", the French nation "motto" originates from the French Revolution's Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen but was not adopted officially till the 3rd Republic.
- the "sans-culottes" poor, badly dressed militants and the "tricoteuses",who sat, knitting, through hundreds of executions.
- " le drapeau tricolore", the French flag which originates from this historic period too.
TIP: Walk around Paris and visit every landmark which played a role in the Revolution: La Bastille, Place de la Concorde, le Louvre etc...
And for something different, Serge Gainsbourg's own version of la Marseillaise: "Aux armes, etc...!"
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