Tag Archives: Bastille Day
A sentimental education Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 12, 2022
In 1869, Gustave Flaubert published his Éducation sentimentale. This classic example of the Bildungsroman or roman d’apprentissage tells the story of law student Frederic Moreau and his infatuation with the older Mme Arnoux in his hometown in Normandy. This week we’ll have our own éducation sentimentale as we explore les sentiments en français. Sentiments ou…
5 Facts about the Bastille Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Jul 17, 2017
As you probably know, la fête nationale, or the French national holiday, is celebrated every July 14. As Tim explains in his Bastille day post, this celebration is held (partly) in commemoration of the storming of the Bastille in 1789, an event that is often noted to have begun the French Revolution. But Bastille Day…
French holidays: Bastille Day Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 11, 2017
This Friday (vendredi), le quatorze juillet (July 14), is la fête nationale française, known in the United States and many parts of the world as Bastille Day. And if you’re like many francophiles, you may think this day celebrates the storming of the royal prison of la Bastille on July 14, 1789 … and you’d…
Marianne Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 4, 2017
Le 14 juillet (July 14th), Bastille Day, is the French national holiday commemorating the start of the French revolution in 1789. The end of the French revolution led to a series of Republics (more below) one of the symbols of which is la Marianne. Named for the two most common woman’s names at the…
La Marseillaise (and “la réintégration de l’histoire”) Posted by Hichem on Jul 19, 2010
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…