14th of July (Bastille Day) is upon us again
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Oh no, it's "Bastille Day" again!!!
Nothing much was happening at Belden Lane this year.
All the celebrating seemed to be going on at the Irish Bank instead, where they had blocked the entire alley and charged people $5 to get in. They had 80's music going on when I walked by, and a couple of police cars parked outside just in case things got out of hand.
Best-o-Burger, Pine St., SF
Surprisingly, this fast-food burger joint on Pine St., had decided to do a 14th of July special. They had a bunch of French flags planted in front of the window, and the poster in the window reads:
Nice touch! But a foie-gras burger? Hmmm.. . I don't know about that! ;)
People always ask me if I am going to do anything celebrate the 14th of July (as French people call it, rather than "Bastille Day"). Truthfully, I don't really see the point, so I usually don't do anything at all.
14th of July, to me, is more like this or ... like that!
Nothing much in the Bay Area can ever compare to the kind of celebrations they put out in France that day. And that's OK, of course (I realize the 4th of July probably sucks in France, too)! ;)
Meanwhile, in Paris ... (the first and last ones are my favorites!)
If you are interested in seeing the entire 14th of July celebration on the Champs Elysees in Paris, I highly recommend you check out this guy's videos on U-Tube. He has posted the entire official TF1 broadcast, split in 12 videos. It's almost like being there.
A few in particular stand out:
6 men and 1 women paratroopers (first women ever) jump out of a plane above Paris and land in a very precise spot right in front of the French President and his guests, Place de la Concorde, Paris. (approx. 4 minutes, MUST SEE!)
Défilé aérien (Patrouille de France (the French equivalent of the Bluge Angels) opens up. MUST SEE, at least the first couple of minutes!)
Marseillaise & Ode à la Joie, le 14 juillet 2008 (7:38)
French National Anthem interpreted by the French Army and the Sapeurs Pompiers (firemen and women). According to the journalist, some of these firemen up front are only 16 years old. (National anthem only takes a couple of minutes in the begining. Skip to almost the end if you want to hear 'Ode à la Joie').
Sarcozy going down the Avenue of Champs Elysees, with the Guarde Républicaine (mounted guards, horsemen). It's a different live feed, so a different camera perspective than the others, and much quicker (about 4 minutes). (When I went back on U-Tube yesterday, people in the crowd had uploaded their own version, in which you can hear some of the people in the the crowd booing the President - Sarcozy's approval rate right now is about as bad as ... well, you know who iin the US.)
last but not least ...
OK, this one is not the 2008 display but I haven't yet found one I really like for 2008, so at least you get an idea.
If you have the time and are interested, there are more videos to look at. Just grab a glass of wine and watch the Défilé!
Peace everybody.
Nothing much was happening at Belden Lane this year.
All the celebrating seemed to be going on at the Irish Bank instead, where they had blocked the entire alley and charged people $5 to get in. They had 80's music going on when I walked by, and a couple of police cars parked outside just in case things got out of hand.
Surprisingly, this fast-food burger joint on Pine St., had decided to do a 14th of July special. They had a bunch of French flags planted in front of the window, and the poster in the window reads:
"Best-o-Burger Celebrates Bastille Day with Iron Skillet Seared Foie Gras BOB Burger and French Flag Gelato. Laissez le bon temps rouler! (Let the good times roll)"
Nice touch! But a foie-gras burger? Hmmm.. . I don't know about that! ;)
People always ask me if I am going to do anything celebrate the 14th of July (as French people call it, rather than "Bastille Day"). Truthfully, I don't really see the point, so I usually don't do anything at all.
14th of July, to me, is more like this or ... like that!
Nothing much in the Bay Area can ever compare to the kind of celebrations they put out in France that day. And that's OK, of course (I realize the 4th of July probably sucks in France, too)! ;)
Meanwhile, in Paris ... (the first and last ones are my favorites!)
If you are interested in seeing the entire 14th of July celebration on the Champs Elysees in Paris, I highly recommend you check out this guy's videos on U-Tube. He has posted the entire official TF1 broadcast, split in 12 videos. It's almost like being there.
A few in particular stand out:
6 men and 1 women paratroopers (first women ever) jump out of a plane above Paris and land in a very precise spot right in front of the French President and his guests, Place de la Concorde, Paris. (approx. 4 minutes, MUST SEE!)
Défilé aérien (Patrouille de France (the French equivalent of the Bluge Angels) opens up. MUST SEE, at least the first couple of minutes!)
French National Anthem interpreted by the French Army and the Sapeurs Pompiers (firemen and women). According to the journalist, some of these firemen up front are only 16 years old. (National anthem only takes a couple of minutes in the begining. Skip to almost the end if you want to hear 'Ode à la Joie').
Sarcozy going down the Avenue of Champs Elysees, with the Guarde Républicaine (mounted guards, horsemen). It's a different live feed, so a different camera perspective than the others, and much quicker (about 4 minutes). (When I went back on U-Tube yesterday, people in the crowd had uploaded their own version, in which you can hear some of the people in the the crowd booing the President - Sarcozy's approval rate right now is about as bad as ... well, you know who iin the US.)
last but not least ...
OK, this one is not the 2008 display but I haven't yet found one I really like for 2008, so at least you get an idea.
If you have the time and are interested, there are more videos to look at. Just grab a glass of wine and watch the Défilé!
Peace everybody.
Labels: 14th of July, Bastille Day, Belden Lane, San Francisco
posted by Tomate Farcie at 9:25 PM
10 Comments:
Bastille Day c'est comme l'Independance Day.Les Français de San francisco n'ont pas manqué de fêter le 14 Juillet. Je suis fane du défilé depuis que je suis toute petite. Par contre au fin fond de ma Campagne je n'ai pas vu le fabuleux feu d'artifice de Paris, même pas celui de mon bled.
Great post! I was at a celebration on Sunday, and the host reminded us that it was already the 14th of July in Paris!
I think the Best-O Burger was the funniest, and that is saying something considering you even had French monkeys... : )
Great post, Tomate! "Louis" appreciated all the links you put in! Merci beaucoup!
Love the monkeys. Haven't looked through all the links, but it is appreciated.
M President booed? I gotta hear that!
What a great post, Tomate! I need to take a bit of time to view all of those You Tube videos, but I will. I adored the monkeys! Thanks for this phenomenal post.
Why thank you, everybody! All these nice comments are greatly appreciated! :)
Louis, I figured you'd be interested in some of these links. Let me know if you have any questions about the commentaries.
It took me a while to sift through all the videos and links, and I was still looking at them last night. My poor neighbors must be wondering what's up with all that military music coming out of my window!
As to the link to Sarkozy being booed by the public, Here you go . You will hear some people whistling but keep in mind that when crowds whistle in France, it means that they're booing, unlike in the US where crowds whistle because they like what they see or hear.
(continued)
Also check out
this article entitled "L’armée française cache mal sa colère contre Sarkozy" (The French Army can hardly contains their anger against Sarkozy), an article written by JEAN-NOËL CUÉNOD, in PARIS, July 15, 2008 for the Tribune de Genève:
"Juché sur le véhicule militaire à ciel ouvert qui descend les Champs-Elysées, Nicolas Sarkozy a pu mesurer son impopularité hier matin. Alors qu’il passe en revue les formations militaires avant la traditionnelle parade du 14 Juillet, un silence glacial fige la foule parisienne qui se montrait jusqu’alors plutôt enjouée. Quelques huées, plusieurs sifflets. Aucun applaudissement, du moins à l’endroit où nous nous trouvions. "
"Up on his open military vehicle going down the Champs Elysees, Nicolas Sarkozy may have noticed yesterday morning how unpopular he is. While he inspected the military formations before the traditional 15th of July parade, a cold silence descended upon the Parisian crowd which had been, until then, pretty upbeat. There were a few few boos and whistles (1). Nobody applauded, at least not at the location we were assigned to."
(1) Remember, when French crowds whistle it means they DON'T like what they're seeing or hearing.
I did not know that about whistling, thanks for informing me because I heard a lot of whistling!
Do you know why the military is angry at him?
(Don't know what happend to this comment yesterday!)
From Cali:
A number of things, one of them was that Sarkozy's guest was Bachar al-Assad, from Syria. Also, reduction of military budget, and finally and most importantly, according to the article, a profound opposition in principle between this president and what the military stands for.
You can copy and paste the entire article and stick it into babelfish and you will get a rough translation that will allow you to understand what's being said for the most part. Sorry, I don't have the time to do the translation right now. :)
http://babelfish.yahoo.com/translate_url
Thanks for the answer. Don't worry about translation I'll use babelfish as you recommended.
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