Bastille Day on 60th Street, New York

On Sunday, July 13, 2008 from noon to 6pm everyone is invited to be French for a day. Experience the sights, sounds, and flavors of France right in your own backyard at New York's "Street Fair with French Flair," Bastille Day on 60th Street. New this year, Bastille Day on 60th Street will include a touch of luxury with a theme of “Beauty and Personal Care." At booths throughout the festival, you will be able to experience “l’art de la beauté” with massages, mini facials, and hair and skin care treatments. Just relax and let yourself be pampered! Everyone is invited to come and share in the Bastille Day on 60th Street festivities and experience le joie de vivre à New York!

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Read more about celebrating Bastille Day in St. Claude, CA
Read about Bastille Day, French National Holyday

The villagers of St. Claude, CA will celebrate Bastille Day on July 13

The villagers of St. Claude are planning a fun-packed day of celebration to honour Bastille Day, and they want as many people as possible to come out and enjoy the day with them.

“We’re looking forward to it,”

said Rose Philippe, a member of the committee organizing the day’s activities.

“We’re planning quite a variety of things to do, and, of course, there will be prisoners and all of that as well.”

Philippe explained there will be two “prisoners” brought to the celebration, which will be held along Main Street in St. Claude, and it will be up to revellers to decide whether the pair will be “bailed in” or “bailed out.”

This year marks the 112th anniversary of St. Claude’s Bastille Day Celebrations, and Philippe explained the day will be very busy.

It will begin with a traditional ceremony at the cenotaph, which will feature the Air Command Band from Winnipeg. The air cadet corps will also be giving a short marching demonstration.

This year, the event has a “green theme,” and there will be face painting and arts and crafts activities following the theme of environmentalism for kids. Prizes will be awarded to the children, and all paintings and crafts will be displayed at the library.

There will also be a butterfly demonstration and a nature walk, both events aiming to inspire the children’s artwork.

“It’s the international year of global warming on our planet earth,”

explained Philippe.

“So we chose a theme that we thought would bring attention to that issue for our children.”

Games are also planned, and entertainment will be provided by Nadia Gaudet, Krista Rey and Roger Godard at the Club Age d’Or.

Although Bastille Day is officially celebrated on July 14, this year, St. Claude will hold its festivities on July 13. The day gets started at noon at the cenotaph in St. Claude, and Philippe invites everyone in the area to come out for the fun.

About village St. Claude
Located approximately one hour south-west of Winnipeg, Manitoba, the Village of Saint-Claude is ideally located for the establishment of new and relocation of existing agriculture related business. Access to agricultural products, natural gas, water and close proximity to the United States makes Saint Claude a great place to invest in any business.

Because of its proximity to Winnipeg (100 km) and Portage-la-Prairie (40 km), Saint-Claude is an ideal place to live, where one can enjoy the best of country living, with a French flavour, and yet take advantage of what the larger urban centres have to offer.

Although predominantly French-Canadian, the popula­tion of Saint-Claude comprises many other nationalities, including English, Belgian, Swiss, Ukranian, Dutch, Métis, and others, all working together for the benefit of the community.

News source: Portage Daily Graphic
Know more about St. Claude, Manitoba, CA
Read about 14 July - Bastille Day
Read about Bastille

About Bastille

With its eight towers, 100 feet (30 metres) high, linked by walls of equal height and surrounded by a moat more than 80 feet (24 metres) wide, the Bastille dominated Paris.

--The Bastille.--From an ancient Engraving of the Topography of Paris, in the Collection of Engravings of the National Library.


The first stone was laid on April 22, 1370, on the orders of Charles V of France, who had it built as a bastide, or fortification (the name Bastille is a corruption of bastide), to protect his wall around Paris against English attack. The Bastille, in fact, was originally a fortified gate, but Charles VI turned it into an independent stronghold by walling up the openings.

In 1557 its defensive system was completed on the eastern flank by the erection of a bastion.

In the 17th century a transverse block was built, dividing the inner court into unequal parts.

Cardinal de Richelieu was the first to use the Bastille as a state prison, in the 17th century; the yearly average number of prisoners was 40, interned by lettre de cachet, a direct order of the king, from which there was no recourse. Prisoners included political troublemakers and individuals held at the request of their families, often to coerce a young member into obedience or to prevent a disreputable member from marring the family’s name.

Under Louis XIV the Bastille became a place of judicial detention in which the lieutenant de police could hold prisoners; under the regency of Philippe II, duc d’Orléans, persons being tried by the Parlement were also detained there.
Imprisonment by lettre de cachet remained, however, in force, and prohibited books were also placed in the Bastille.
The high cost of maintaining the building prompted talk of demolition in 1784.

On the morning of July 14, 1789, when only seven prisoners were confined in the building, a crowd advanced on the Bastille with the intention of asking the prison governor, Bernard Jordan, marquis de Launay, to release the arms and munitions stored there. Angered by Launay’s evasiveness, the people stormed and captured the place; this dramatic action came to symbolize the end of the ancien régime.

The Bastille was subsequently demolished by order of the Revolutionary government.


Also suggest to view plan of Bastille

Source of article: Britannica
Source of image: The Project Gutenberg EBook of Manners, Custom and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period, by Paul Lacroix

Read about what is Bastille Day?
Read about celebration of Bastille Day at Embassy of France

Bastille view and Bastille ground plan

A correct View of the Bastile with it's Cround Plan

If you are interested in large view of Bastille plan you can click on image.
I didn't found original source of image, so if you know tell me and I will credit this source.

Also you can read about Bastille Day - French National Holiday and Bastille Day at Embassy of France which will be on 12 July 2008

Bastille Day at Embassy of France

Buy your ticket now and receive a free raffle ticket to win
this extraordinary prize for 2 people:

• A round-trip ticket to Paris courtesy of Air France, 2 nights accommodations at the Westminster Hotel,
• An evening for 2 at the Moulin Rouge (dinner and a show),
• A privite visit "behind the scene" at the "Château de Chantilly".

Read more about tickets to Bastille Day at Embassy of France
Read more about Bastille Day

14 July - French national holiday

Bastille Day - the French national holiday, celebrated on 14 July each year.

The Bastille was a prison in Paris. As in 1789 people stormed and seized the Bastille - a symbol of royal despotism and freed seven prisoners. This event is considered the start of the French Revolution. Storming of the Bastille in Paris became an icon of the French Republic.

In the summer of 1789, all was not good in France. The political system, which concentrated power in the hands of a few corrupt aristocrats and the king, forced the working classes to bear the financial burden of the country's substantial national debt. A bad harvest the year before left the poor starving. No one was more outraged than the bourgeoisie — the new middle class which, while growing in number and in wealth, were denied the political power of the aristocracy.

Frustrated and impassioned, revolutionaries raided the armory at les Invalides on the morning of July 14. Armed and eager, they marched to the Bastille, a prison that had come to symbolize the hypocrisy and corruption of the regime. After a brief standoff, the citizens stormed the citadel and liberated all the prisoners. This event sparked the French Revolution. The revolutionaries were inspired by the ideals of the Enlightenment; "liberté, egalité and fraternité" became the rallying cry that spread throughout the country.The bravery of the French revolutionaries who risked their lives for freedom and democracy impressed people world wide.

In France, the people—not the king—held the power. One year later on July 14, the Fête de la Federation solidified the glory and new national character of the French Republic. Despite predicted thunderstorms, hundreds of thousands of citizens filled the Champs de Mars, which was then a field outside of Paris. The revelers drank,danced, sang and cheered as troops paraded throughout Paris.

The Marquis de La Fayette, the French hero of the American War of Independence, took an oath to uphold the new constitution and protect the liberties it provided. The king also swore to uphold the new constitution decreed by the National Assembly. These busts of patriotism and solidarity signaled that the unity of the nation was no longer an abstract concept, but a reality.

Representatives from across Europe and France's newest ally, the United States, gathered in Paris to celebrate the new Republic. The American delegation, led by navy hero John Paul Jones, was met with cheers from the French people. Grateful for French assistance during its own revolution 10 years earlier, the delegation presented France with an American flag, the first ever to fly outside of the United States. It represented the strong alliance between the two countries that would endure for many centuries to come.

Bastille Day - one of the grand events in the history of mankind.

Source: News from France

Read about celebration of Bastille Day at Embassy of France
View plan of Bastille towers