How appropriate that the last time I updated this it was the US's Independance Day and today, it's Bastille Day here in France. I find it amusing the worldwide, it's known as Bastille Day, but here, no one uses that. Today is referred to as the Fête Nationale or le 14 juillet, not anything remotely near "Bastille Day."
Anyways, it was a very good first Fête nationale française. We didn't do anything big, but it was interesting seeing the differnces (and similarities) in the customs in comparison. One thing I thought was very cool about the celebration here is the Défilé militaire du 14 juillet, or the National Military Parade, essentially. It takes place every year (usually down the Champs-Elysées) and representations of all the different parts of the French military parade down from the Arc de Triomphe to the Tribune constructed at the Place de la Concorde, where the President of the Republic and all of the visiting heads of state are standing. This year there was a big to-do because one of these heads of state was the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad. Personally, I loved the Parade. When I say all of the parts of the military are featured it's true, there are the graduating students from the Grandes Écoles militaires (i.e. École polytechnique, Saint-Cyr, École Navale), the regular military, the élite French Foreign Legion, even the police and fire fighters, as well as the air patrol, the tanks, the calvary... you name it, it's there. Interesting thing to note: The Légion Étrangère always marches last as they have a different step from the rest of the French military (88 steps per minute versus the regular 120) and they are also the only corps that does not split in two at the end in front of the Tribune.
Also, it was bizarre watching the Parade in one aspect, because I don't know any of the national song things (aside from "La Marseillaise," of course). Really makes you realize how much the culture of your own country is embedded in you, and how much of that we take for granted as common knowledge.
Anyways, beyond that, we just had a relaxing day. Michel and I rode his motorcycle tonight to a nearby town called Martigues to see a fireworks display and meet up with some of his friends. The meeting up with his friends happened, and was chill (we got a drink and chatted), but sadly (and unsurprisingly) the fireworks display was cancelled due to the fact that there was a lot of Mistral today. The south of France has lots of problems with fires during the summer as there is frequently a lot of wind and the countryside is very dry... Alas, no fireworks.
Still, all in all, a very good Bastille Day.
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