Bastille Day: Bonus Episode 🇫🇷
Bastille Day: Bonus Episode. In this episode, find out everything you wanted to know about Bastille Day celebration in France. And listen to the French anthem at the end of this episode!
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Bastille Day: Bonus Episode
#1 How to say ‘Bastille Day’ in French?
Alors, déjà , in French, Bastille Day is called ‘Le quatorze juillet‘ (July 14th). This is a day of celebration of the French Republic and democracy, and to remember the values of France.
Our motto is Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité….the motto appeared first under the French Revolution.. and was written into the 1958 constitution and these days, is part of the French national heritage…
Liberté stands for freedom, Egalité for equality, and fraternité means ‘Brotherhood’ and the meaning at large is closer to solidarity.
#2 Why is the French flag Blue, White, and Red?
This is around the same time that the French flag appeared… le drapeau tricolore… le drapeau tricolore… these words are often used in French to refer to our flag… Drapeau means flag … and tricolore.. well.. three colors…..
Now, the flag is Bleu, Blanc, Rouge, not blank (please).. blanc… blanc you don’t pronounce the C… blanc when the adjective is masculine and blanche.. blanche… when the adjective is feminine.
Le drapeau tricolore… Bleu, blanc, rouge… Blue, white, Red….Bleu, Blanc, Rouge…Not to be confused with red, white, and blue…
Do you know the French flag come from the color of the city of Paris (bleu et rouge), with the color of the king (blanc) in the middle?
Le quatorze juillet is more or less the start of summer in France, when most people will leave for summer vacations.
#3 Bastille Day Celebrations
Le jour du quatorze juillet, on the day of July 14th, there are three things not to be missed: The military parade in Paris, the fireworks, and the balls!
A Paris, sur les Champs-Elysées… les Champs-Elysées (with a Z), in the morning, le matin, the French military parade for more than three hours. This is a complete show with the jet fighters, tanks, and foreign legion. The jet fighters are named La patrouille de France— la patrouille de France— tanks are named char. Oui, les chars in French, ou un char.. and la Légion étrangère… La légion étrangère…
Then, in the evening, il y a les feux d’artifices… les feux d’artifices… Fireworks… fireworks .. if you stay in a town, you will se ads for ‘La retraite aux flambeaux‘…. La retraite aux flambeaux… What is ‘La retraite aux flambeaux’ ? a procession held after dark to the fireworks site so that lights carried by the participants form a spectacle. The lights will commonly be of the same type, so making a candlelight procession, lantern parade or torchlight march (I admit I took the description from Wikipedia!). Try it when you go to France!
After the fireworks, people go dancing! Yes, you will have balls organized by the cities or by the firemen.. Le bal des pompiers… Le bal des pompiers… This is a long-time tradition in France… and for many decades, people would meet first at the ball and start courting and dating after.. To these days, finding love at the ball is still very much expected!
I cannot finish this episode without playing a little bit of our French anthem, L’hymne national.. l’hymne national… La Marseillaise !! 🇫🇷
Curious about ‘La Marseillaise’? read on here : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise
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Merci et à bientôt, Séverine