Last week, la France a fêté “la prise de la Bastille” (France celebrated “the storming of the Bastille.”) Apart from the symbolic value that this iconic day has acquired over the past two centuries, it is now important for the French, who are still rediscovering and “debating” their identité nationale, to reconsider the évènements cruciaux (crucial events) that took place in that year of 1789, and “re-integrate” them back into their true historical perspective.

Far from being similar to a date de naissance (the birthday) of Hichem -as Jennie said in her last post, understandably because she didn’t have time to read my extra-long post, being probably busy with the celebration of her own birthday: Joyeux Anniversaire Jennie !– or even the birthday of the authentic French Revolution, which is in fact to be traced back to the courant of great major French figures such as Lafayette, Beaumarchais, and Lavoisier, whose lofty and determined efforts culminated with the first French Assemblée Nationale — the 14 jullet (July 14th), on the contrary, is more to be viewed -just as the magnifique Chateaubriand observed, as a day marking a coup d’état againt the Assemblée Nationale, and in favor of its sworn ennemis, namely the shadowy group dominated by the ever-intriguing Duc d’Orléans, together with his “cohort étrangère” (see below “la Marseillaise”) of “les 3 SUiSSES” (The three Swiss: Necker, Marat, and the Baron de Besenval.)

In other words, seen within its accurate historical perspective, it is the triumph of Lafayette’s and the people of France as a whole, on June 20th (the birthday of the Assemblée Nationale following the historical Serment du Jeu de Paume), which ought to be celebrated as une fête nationale in France, instead of the “3 SUiSSES” and the Duc d’Orléan’s (temporary, of course) “jour de gloire“, which took place three weeks later, on a July 14th.

For more details, I invite you to read -or as the French like to say, “relire” (re-read)- the post titled “Le 14 juillet and “les 3 SUiSSES“”

As for another closely related topic, that of the “Marseillaise“, which is une autre pair de manche (a whole different story), we’ll leave it to another day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzV7fyJATDs

Aujourd’hui (today), we will only go through its paroles (lyrics), in French and English!