La Fête Nationale

My first experience of Bastille Day was in Paris while on a travel/study program through the University of California, Berkeley. Recollections are hazy, but I remember celebrating with other program students in the general area of Place De La Bastille (near my future neighborhood); taking a break from the immense, jostling crowd and eating a pita on a stoop off Boulevard Henri IV; being startled by the small firecrackers the French were throwing on the ground in the midst of people – crazy! From La Bastille we somehow ended up on the Champs-Élysées (probably via the over-packed Metro) and were amazed by the squeezing in and the shouts of people on that ionic avenue. Although we were “enjoying” the novel experience of the French festivities, soon enough the group decided to head back home. Supposedly the Metro was to be running until 1:00 a.m. or 2:00 a.m.; though we waited a long time, with tens of others, on the platform in Roosevelt for a train that never came. The only thing to do was walk. So my first Bastille Day ended with walking from the eighth arrondissement to the sixteenth arrondissement in the company of fellow students and other celebrants trying to reach our respective homes. It was one of the longer walks I’ve taken in Paris, but I wouldn’t have missed the whole, insane, claustrophobic, noisy night for anything – not even for a really good red Bordeaux. Vive La France!

“Happy Bastille Day!!!” graphic created by Adrean Darce Brent