La Fête Nationale Française!
Bastille Day, which is on July 14th, marks the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille, a prison and symbolic institution of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis 16th. The event was the advent of the French Revolution that so famously spawned the phrases “Off with their heads” and Marie Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake.”
Today the event is associated with a less gruesome or flippant tone. The French holiday is intoned with the happiness, freedom and independence of the French people. It is also a day meant to celebrate and encourage national peacefulness.
But there is a twist! The proper etiquette in which one wishes someone a “happy Bastille Day” in France is to not mention Bastille at all. That’s because the French themselves do not actually call the day Bastille Day. Rather, they call it ‘la Fête Nationale Française’ or ‘Fête Nat’ or just ‘la Fête du 14 Juliet’.
As a lover of French food, wine, and the country’s cultural emphasis on fine art, fashion, and personal style, I have a natural affinity for Frenchness, its culture and attitude. I’m a bit of a francophile. It’s an honest culture with a chic way of life. The French simply act as naturally as possible. In their dress, rustic foods, and quiet coolness, they are an ornamental culture.
When I’m in France, I’m French and when I come back home, I am a little more French in America for the experience. So as we live today with our travel restrictions and our limited mobility even at home, I celebrate the independence, liberty, peace and, of course, fashion, the French way. Fête Nat!
– Christina Lucas
Links
How to Create a Charcuterie Board the French Way
French Wine Exploration Map
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Finding the Fifth Element in French Polynesia
Culture Shock for French in Quebec
Why the Future of French is African
A Racial Awakening in France, Where Race is a Taboo Topic
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