I hope everyone had a great Bastille Day. We are usually in France this time of the year. Unfortunately, Americans can’t travel to Europe - actually, we can’t go to Canada, South America, or Africa (except for Tanzania for the time being).

Every July 14th we celebrate La Fête Nationale. July 14, 1789, was a turning point in the French Revolution. Bastille was a prison that the monarchy held political prisoners. There are conflicting reports on the reason for storming the prison. Some scholars say the French marched to the Hôtel des Invalides to find ammunition and firearm. When they didn’t find enough they stormed Bastille prison and released the prisoners while searching for weapons. Other scholars say that the main reason for storming Bastille was in fact to free political prisoners and to send a clear message to Louis XVI and the other monarchs in power. Either way, the destruction of the military prison was the beginning of the French Revolution and ultimately changed French power systems forever.

Americans greatly benefited from Louis XVI's irresponsible spending and lack of focus on his own citizens. King Louis XVI helped the Colonists fight England during the Revolutionary War by funding them. King Louis XVI did this while his own citizens were starving, jobless, sick, and dying. He cared about gaining more power, political points, and his well known extravagant lifestyle. His lack of concern and care of his citizens’ sufferings and needs were the reason for Bastille storming and the end of his reign. I feel like we are living through history again. Instead of storming Bastille per se, we are storming the political handcuffs, fighting an unjust system, and moving the people to a more just and equitable country. Our day to storm Bastille will be Election Day.

Place de l’Espagnol in Bormes les Mimosa

Enough about politics now let’s talk about how we usually celebrate Bastille Day. If we are in New York we like to go to the French Institute Alliance Francaise celebration on 60th Street in Manhattan. They usually have music, face painters, and puppets for the young kids, raffles, and wine for the grown-ups. If we decide to stay in Harlem than we like to hang out at Maison Harlem. They usually play the highlights from the Tour of France stages, have live music and we all sing French songs at the top of our lungs while drinking rose and champagne. How I miss those carefree days.

If we are in Paris, we will avoid military parades and all the pageantry. I don’t like big parades. My family and I prefer to park ourselves at a local restaurant, have a very slow lunch, drink rose, and make friends with people at the restaurant. One year we were at Place de l’Espagnol in Bormes Les Mimosa. It is a great beach with an amazing little beach restaurant. We swam, drank rose, ate fries and other yummy food and Georgette had a special drink made for her,

With all the travel restrictions I celebrated Bastille Day in Upstate, New York. I dropped my daughter off at riding camp. My golden doodle and I sat by the pool while I worked on what to offer for the Christmas season. Afterward, I went to pick G up from camp. We stopped at the grocery store, got ice cream, came home, and rode our bikes. Afterward, we cheered Bastille Day with a nice glass of rose and water for her.

Cheers to you all and I hope we can celebrate Bastille Day 2021 properly!

Adolophine