Just like every year at this time, Paris is getting ready to celebrate its National Holiday Festival in style. Atmosphere and fraternity are on the programme of festivities for July 14th. To get the day off to a good start, trumpets and bugles will sound on the arrival of the President of the French Republic at the top of the Champs-Elysées. The sound of drums roll as the elite forces of the French Army parade before the whole of Paris. Then the military display gives way to the much-awaited fireworks display near the Eiffel Tower. A colour of explosion in the Parisian night sky.
« Bastille Day », usually known in France as « le quatorze juillet » (14 th of July) will maybe see you up bright and early at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arc de Triomphe, waiting for the start of the military parade down the « Champs-Elysées ».
The official focus for the day is indeed the Champs-Elysées (20 to 30 minutes by foot from Duquesne Eiffel Hotel), where crowds traditionally greet a military parade and witness a fly-past trailing tricolor smoke in the colours of the French flag. The route of the parade passes from the Arc de Triomphe to the place de la Concorde. This year « special » : The Paris fire brigade is celebrating its 200th anniversary. They will be honoured in this parade ! French firefighters called « sapeur pompiers » are real men ! They are the French favourite soldiers …. (especially when you question women) … ;0)
The official celebrations conclude late in the evening, usually at about 11pm, with fireworks and music at the Eiffel Tower and the Jardins de Trocadéro. This year’s theme: ‘From Broadway to Paris!’ – The world of great musicals. The Duquesne Eiffel Hotel Team advice: Bring a picnic basket and a bottle of wine on the Champs de Mars Gardens, right in front of the Eiffel tower (5 minutes by walk from the hotel), and go there early (from 8.00 P.M) to reserve a comfortable place on the garden: It’s going to be very crowdy there !
Prepare to celebrate !
Another Tip ?
It might be an idea to learn some of the words of France’s national anthem, La Marseillaise !
« Le quatorze juillet » is France’s main public holiday.It commemorates the storming of the « Bastille », an infamous prison that was attacked by revolutionaries in 1789 as the French overthrew their monarchy. If you go there today, you will not find the prison. Pulled down many years ago, it survives in outline in the paving stones of the place de la Bastille.
