And so Charles Dickens's famous opening line from A Tale of Two Cities:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of dispair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us....
Dickens's fulsome description of the spirit of the times struck a chord with me. Studying the French Revolution, one is struck by the impact which the events of the 14th of July 1789 had on the world. It was the end of royal absolutism (although you can make a case for the Glorious Revolution in England) in Europe as far as most people are concerned. Sovereignty rested upon popular will and it was no longer invested in the hands of the monarch, annointed by the divine from above. It gave us the humanist ideals of Liberty-Equality-Fraternity. It laid the foundation for modern France as we know it today.
On this very significant day, I like to wish all Frenchmen and women a happy national day. Joyeux Quatorze Juillet et Vive la République française!
Liz
And my dad's birthday...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO HIM!!!!!
AND A HAPPY FRENCH NATIONAL DAY TO THE FRENCH!!!!!
Loic
Liz:
What a good and filial daughter you are!
Liz
Loic wrote:
Liz:
What a good and filial daughter you are!
He is fiercely proud of having been born that particular day.
Loic
Well, the 14th of July is one of the more famous national holidays in the world, its international renown surpassed only by America's 4th of July. I'd be awfully pleased of such a birthdate if I were your father as well.
According to Wisden Almanack, the cricketer's Bible, Malcolm Marshall took 7 for 53 against England at Headingley, Leeds despite his left thumb being in plaster. His fantastic bowling figures basically resulted in he nearly single-handedly removing the heart of the English batting order and England collapsed in customary fashion from 104 for 2 to 159 all out. For England, this was just the tip of a nightmarish iceberg - they were two Tests away from being 'Blackwashed' for the first time.
So it's an awfully significant day. Hehe.
Yelina
Re: Bastille Day
Loic wrote:
On this very significant day, I like to wish all Frenchmen and women a happy national day. Joyeux Quatorze Juillet et Vive la République française!
Merci Loic!
Irrintzi
Good interpretation Loic!
Bastille Day, the French national holiday, commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which took place on 14 July 1789 and marked the beginning of the French Revolution. The Bastille was a prison and a symbol of the absolute and arbitrary power of Louis the 16th's Ancient Regime. By capturing this symbol, the people signaled that the king's power was no longer absolute: power should be based on the Nation and be limited by a separation of powers.
Although the Bastille only held seven prisoners at the time of its capture, the storming of the prison was a symbol of liberty and the fight against oppression for all French citizens; like the Tricolore flag, it symbolized the Republic's three ideals: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity for all French citizens. It marked the end of absolute monarchy, the birth of the sovereign Nation, and, eventually, the creation of the First modern European Republic, in 1792.
Bastille Day was declared the French national holiday on 6 July 1880, on Benjamin Raspail's recommendation, when the new Republic was firmly entrenched. Bastille Day has such a strong signification for the French because the holiday symbolizes the birth of the Republic. As in the US, where the signing of the Declaration of Independence signaled the start of the American Revolution, in France the storming of the Bastille began the Great Revolution. In both countries, the national holiday thus symbolizes the beginning of a new form of government.
On the one-year anniversary of the fall of the Bastille, delegates from every region of France proclaimed their allegiance to a single national community during the Fête de la Fédération in Paris - the first time in history that a people had claimed their right to self-determination.
As the American day, in all cities and villages there're fireworks, Concerts and festivities.
The military parade (I have divergent opinions, for me, army is an anti-democratic symbol)
But this parade was very symbolic, it was the first where we heard the European hymn "Ode to Joy", and saw the 27 EU states' armies, and the European & French heads together, An European parade.
