Pages

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Happy Bastille Day!

bastille_day_fw

prise_de_la_bastilleOn this date in 1789, citizens of Paris rioted; they took over the Bastille prison, released the seven prisoners inside, and destroyed the fortress. Bastille Day (known in France as La FĂȘte Nationale) has been celebrated on the event's anniversary ever since, with feasting, parades and fireworks. It was the second of two pivotal events that started the French Revolution. The first one had taken place three weeks earlier, on June 20, 1789, when all but one of the 577 members of France's Third Estate of the Estates-General — locked out of their meeting hall by Louis XVI's soldiers — convened on a nearby tennis court. There they signed a declaration renaming their body the National Assembly and vowing to continue to meet until a constitution was written. This declaration became known as the Tennis Court Oath.

bastille-day-extravganza-flyer
Claude Monet, Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of 30 June 1878

6a00d83451a23669e201157073a335970b-800wi

5 comments:

  1. I'd prefer to celebrate with the 4th picture down...

    Peace <3
    Jay

    ReplyDelete
  2. Joe: Yum, I love french cooking and that french meat looks delicious, it would be body-licking good.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Me too, Jay.

    LOL, FOC. I love French food too.

    ReplyDelete
  4. again thank you for the history lesson some how i missed this in my studies or i'm just getting forgetful at my age

    ReplyDelete
  5. Becca, I had to take a class once on the French Revolution. I actually hated it then, but since I have found more fun ways to teach it, I actually enjoy it now. I'm glad you are learning something.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for commenting. I always want to know what you have to say. However, I have a few rules:
1. Always be kind and considerate to others.
2. Do not degrade other people's way of thinking.
3. I have the right to refuse or remove any comment I deem inappropriate.
4. If you comment on a post that was published over 14 days ago, it will not post immediately. Those comments are set for moderation. If it doesn't break the above rules, it will post.