Joyeux 14 juillet! It’s la fête nationale in France today, what we call Bastille Day in English. Turns out nobody calls it that in France. French Today blog has a great run-down of vocabulary and customs for Le 14 juillet, I recommend it.
(It’s also the 108th anniversary of the birth of American folk-singer Woody Guthrie. Happy birthday, Woody!)
Covid-19 has has disrupted the 2020 celebration of quatorze juillet this year, but not as much as I would have expected. France’s daily Covid-19 totals nationwide are down to 800 new cases / 30 new deaths, and are largely having success at re-opening their society. In Paris, they are going ahead with an all-day concert on Champs-de-Mars, a military ceremony on Place de la Concorde, an ariel parade over Chaps Élysée, and midnight fireworks. There are more restrictions than usual on people gathering to view these events, but the Champs-de-Mars concert is definitely open to the public. Sortir à Paris has a full guide of Fête Nationale 2020 events.
My oldest daughter and I were in Paris on 14 juillet 2013, sampling a lot of venues:
We attended a nearby Bals des Pompiers at midnight 13-14 juillet, viewed the morning military parade on the Champs Élysée, went to a movie near Opéra in the afternoon, then took a boat cruise on the Seine at night, watching the fireworks from near Pont de l’Alma
Here’s some of what we saw seven years ago.
We watched the défilé militaire from the sidewalk, near the George V metro stop. First there was an aerial display, a parade in the sky of sorts, complete with un drapeau français.
Next came a mechanized parade. First police and fire vehicles…
… and then military vehicles:
After that, a final return to the air:
We took the afternoon off, then went on a bateau-mouche at night to watch the fireworks from the water.
At the time, I had mixed feelings about the military parade in Paris. On the one hand, it seemed totally authentic, patriotic, clean, and stereotypically French. On the other hand, I imagined the analogous event in Washington, D. C., on July 4th and didn’t like the image at all. Of course, it didn’t take too many years before imagination became reality. I was right: I was not a fan of the July 4, 2019 military parade in D. C.
Maybe some French traditions are best left to the French…
