| On this day in 1790--exactly one year after the storming of the Bastille--the people of France sang, drank, danced, and toasted their time of liberty, swearing to "uphold and defend it." To mark the occasion, we present a remembrance of a fête du 14 juillet past from our Paris editor. |
Bastille Day International Living Postcards--your daily escape Bastille Day, 2006
Paris, France I clearly didn't pay attention on July 14 in years past. Because only this morning, when promptly at 10:30 jumbo jets and French-built Mirage fighters began streaming overhead, their engines revving like a Harley, I finally understood that the celebrations of le 14 juillet are above all a show of military strength. This became even clearer on my way to the Opéra Garnier to meet friends. The défilé militaire on the Champs-Elysées had just ended. Uniformed men and women were streaming through the Place de l'Opéra clad in cadet blue, loaded down with medals and braids, and wearing elaborate headdresses straight from the pages of military picture books. My favorite: the soldiers of the Legion Etrangère, who wore leather aprons and hoisted gleaming steel axes over their shoulders. They looked awfully sharp… I prefer the fête populaire, which began last night with a Gilberto Gil concert on the Place de la Bastille. Tonight, scores of Parisians will spread out picnic blankets to watch the fireworks framing the Eiffel Tower. Then night owls will wait in long lines at neighborhood fire stations for entry into the bals des pompiers. They're the best parties in town, and they last all night. Amber Garrison
For International Living P.S. Terms to note: * le 14 juillet (luh kat-orz zh-wee-yay): July 14, the French name for Bastille Day
* défilé militaire (day-fee-lay mee-lee-tare): military parade
* fête populaire (fett poh-pew-lair): party for commoners/civilians
* bals des pompiers (baal day pom-pee-ay): dances hosted by firemen
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