Le quatorze juillet

Today is Bastille Day. A national holiday in France, it is celebrated all over the country, from the huge celebrations in Paris, to small fetes in the little rural villages. It is held to commemorate the storming of the Bastille by the Parisien revolutionaries on 14th July 1789, and has been “The French National Holiday” ever since the first anniversary in 1790.

I used to work in Paris, and I always loved the military parade held on the Champs Elysees. The sound as the vehicles and tanks rumbled over the cobbles, is indescribable, and then there is a display by the French equivalent of The Red Arrows (although obviously not as good!!).
At night, there is a fantastic firework display which is launched from the Trocadero near to the Eiffel Tower, and it is quite spectacular.

What I used to hate – and fear – were the fireworks being thrown willy nilly by otherwise normally sane people. Those use to really scare me.

I'm afraid that apart from a map, this is the only French-related object I could think of! It was a gift from Disco a couple of weeks ago.

As you can guess, I’m afraid I have nothing to write home about today. Head down in the office all day, then back home this evening. Only one more day this week, then I'm having the rest of the week off!