Hollywood, MD – Ten days after the United States of America marks its birthday, our French allies have their own independence to celebrate. July 14 is “La fete nationale,” or as we know it in America—Bastille Day.
France and French-speaking regions throughout the world pause to remember the day in 1789 when an agitated crowd stormed the Bastille, spelling the end of an oppressive monarchy and sparking a revolution. The Bastille was a prison and many of King Louis XVI’s opponents were locked up there.
Historians have reported throughout the ages that it was another oppressive tax increase that finally pushed the citizens over the edge. It should be noted the French ran up quite a tab for aiding the rebels in the American Revolution, so from America’s perspective it was money well spent. But you couldn’t explain that to the angry mob and expect to live on that first Bastille Day.
Today, the city of Paris hosts Europe’s largest military parade and during the evening there will be fireworks galore—just like our Independence Day.
Writing for a travel guide web site called BootsNAll in 2010, Christine Cantera identified six places to celebrate Bastille Day in the U.S. They are Philadelphia, New York City, Seattle, Milwaukee, New Orleans and St. Louis.
In the Washington, DC area, several French-cuisine restaurants will be celebrating both Bastille Day and France’s quest for the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup Sunday, July 15 in Russia. France faces Croatia in the final. The biggest Bastille Day party in DC will be at the Embassy of France. It’s very pricy and you must be a French citizen. For us average folks, perhaps we should simply celebrate French independence with a large order of fries.
Vive la france!!
Contact Marty Madden at marty.madden@thebaynet.com