PERFECTLY PLANNED JOURNEYS
  • Welcome
  • Who we are
    • Certifications & Licenses
    • Wildlife Friendly Pledge
  • Resources
    • Travel Store
    • Newsletter
    • Blog >
      • Food & Drinks from around the World
    • Events >
      • Competitions & Quizzes
      • RSVP
    • FAQ
    • Fundraiser
    • Gift Certificate
    • Joint Venture
    • Jokes
    • Legal Disclaimer
    • Passport & Visa
    • Helpful Travel Info. from TSA
    • Travel Warnings
    • Trip Planner
    • Homes for Rent
  • Contact
    • Travel Profile (Head of Household)
    • Travel Profile - (Family Member)
    • Short Trip Inquiry
    • How would you like to communicate?
    • Facebook
    • Contact Me!
    • Quick Trip Inquiry
    • VIP Members
  • Insider Secrets
    • Perfect Travel Connections - Coming Soon!

“Traveling tends to magnify
all human emotions”
- Peter Hoeg

Vive la  France! - la fête nationale

7/14/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Today is the French National holiday - la fête nationale.  Strangely enough, here in the US we refer to it as Bastille Day.   But there’s no such thing as Bastille Day in France, and it is definitely considered a “faux pas” to wish a french person Happy Bastille Day!

France’s national holiday isn’t named after the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution because the holiday isn’t really about that event. Several different dates were considered in 1880 to serve as the national holiday, including August 4th, the day on which the feudal system was abolished. 

July 14th eventually won out because it was the day of la Fête de la Fédération, a joyous celebration in 1790 that honored the new government and commemorated the one year anniversary of the storming of the Bastille (a prison where Louis XVI jailed citizens for speaking out against the government). 

By the transitive property, la fête du 14-juillet does celebrate this bloody and symbolic victory during the French Revolution, but the holiday is mostly about national pride: the tricolor bleu-blanc-rouge flag, France’s national anthem La Marseillaise, and the values liberté, fraternité, and égalité are much more important to this holiday than the storming of the Bastille. 

La Fête Nationale is probably called “Bastille Day” in English because “Bastille” is a brief, concise and unambiguous reference to the storming of the prison of the Bastille in Paris on July 14,1789, by 954 men and one woman, armed with pikes and miscellaneous firearms, yelling “Tous à la Bastille !” (Everybody out of the pool).

The actual event may sound a little disappointing. After a short battle, the nonmilitary governor in charge of the fortress, by then mostly being used as a hospital, simply gave up. When the victors finally made their way down to the “dungeons,” which turned out to be spacious, almost luxurious, they discovered there were only seven prisoners left in the place. The others, including the Bastille’s most famous inmate, the Marquis de Sade, had been transferred somewhere else shortly before.

La fête du 14-juillet is celebrated in France with food, dancing, music, and of course, fireworks. By far the biggest tradition of this holiday celebrating national pride is an extravagant military parade that takes place in Paris each July 14th, which is both the largest and oldest (since 1880) regularly held military parade in Europe.
To all my friends in France - "à votre santé"

If you would like to visit France, let's talk.  Please contact me at Lene@PerfectlyPlannedJourneys.com or 703-927-0588.

#love2travel #perfectlyplannedjourneys, #VisitFrance #VivelaFrance

Share the knowledge

 
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Lene H. Minyard
    Founder/Travel Designer of Perfectly Planned Journeys
    ​

    Archives

    November 2022
    October 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    January 2020
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    October 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Perfectly Planned Journeys logo

Lene Minyard CTA, owner
lene@perfectlyplannedjourneys.com  ​​703-927-0588


Certified Travel Advisor logo
True Accredited Agency logo
ASTA logo
European Tourism Association logo
European Tourism Association
Picture
Proud Supporter
Copyright Perfectly Planned Journeys, LLC™  2021
  • Welcome
  • Who we are
    • Certifications & Licenses
    • Wildlife Friendly Pledge
  • Resources
    • Travel Store
    • Newsletter
    • Blog >
      • Food & Drinks from around the World
    • Events >
      • Competitions & Quizzes
      • RSVP
    • FAQ
    • Fundraiser
    • Gift Certificate
    • Joint Venture
    • Jokes
    • Legal Disclaimer
    • Passport & Visa
    • Helpful Travel Info. from TSA
    • Travel Warnings
    • Trip Planner
    • Homes for Rent
  • Contact
    • Travel Profile (Head of Household)
    • Travel Profile - (Family Member)
    • Short Trip Inquiry
    • How would you like to communicate?
    • Facebook
    • Contact Me!
    • Quick Trip Inquiry
    • VIP Members
  • Insider Secrets
    • Perfect Travel Connections - Coming Soon!