All 7 prisoners were liberated on 14 July 1789, hence Bastille Day
Well I hope you all watched the wonderful défilé! Aren't they all lovely looking, especially the Légion with their splendid enormous beards/aprons/axes etc (did you notice they don't split in front of the stand, the Légion never splits). My favourites are l'X & St Cyr because my grandfather went to l'X & his brother to St Cyr.
Aye! Not being 'made in England' variety I know that it is celebrated above the Tweed, below it is all but ignored bar a passing mention in a few history books.
I thought you just might have that in mind!
Just done some research and of course the Battle of Bannockburn.
Nja, nja. No! Think 1314.
I assume Brian's reference to celebrating 24th June is to the founding of Eton in 1441. Hard to imagine that anything more significant happened on that day
Ian, look back up to Chris's first remark and the enormous success (not) of the storming of the Bastille and you may see why they prefer not to use that name. Do the British not have the same? Some of us celebrate 24 June, do you?
I withdraw my comment, on checking the France 24 English web site for the latest on Sarko I find that the references to today all say "Bastille Day".
All our local information is about National Day.
Hey Ho!
We've now cracked il Giro d'Italia, Andrew, even had le Tour de Yorkshire, of course. Still talk of the Tour of Austria though!!!
This short video does a great job of addressing that:
http://www.commeunefrancaise.com/bastille-day/?awt_l=Ad6cU&awt_m=3fTYyAbXI1Eglt2
We don't say "the sleeve" when talking in English about the bit of water separating France and the UK so why can't we have our own word for the 14th July ?
Ian, if you said the fourteenth of July to 99% of English speakers it wouldn't mean anything/carry all the cultural baggage and references the le quatorze juillet does for the French/Francophones. It's simply a label that works in English where an exact translation doesn't. Try telling the French that they should call les Îles Anglo-Normandes les Îles de la Manche...! :-o
http://www.cndp.fr/fileadmin/user_upload/POUR_MEMOIRE/14_juillet/PM_14juillet.pdf. This is a very interesting and scholarly report on how and why 14th july was chosen but I still ask the question why do we Brits say Bastille Day when the French do not use such a phrase in French.
Err Ian I'm French. I also speak English & some other languages - so when speaking one I may well refer to a place or event using terms different from those I would use in another, just as Andrew says above...
Doreen, who says we are ashamed of it? It is the kick-off for the Revolution. Pick a date... v handy a month ahead of the 15 août. We love it. It is marvellous. Actually I think we'd be better off celebrating the Abolition des Privilèges which happened on August 4th, but there you are...
Err, when I speak French (99% of the time at home and 100% at work) it's quatorze juillet and on the rare occasion I speak English then I'd use Bastille day just as I talk about Douvres, Londres, Paris, Milan, Gênes, Florence, Naples, Venise when speaking French, Dover, London, Paris, Milan, Genoa, Florence, Naples, Venice when speaking English and Dover, London, Parigi, Milano, Genova, Firenze, Venezia et al. when speaking Italian. The English language manages quite well with le Tour de France but can't seem to handle il Giro d'Italia or la Vuelta à España having to resort to the Tour of Italy/Spain. Some things seem to work directly, others need changing/renaming...! ;-)
I take all of your points but I feel that, with a French wife who would not dream of calling it bastille day in english or in french, we should call it by the name they use so if you prefer, fourteenth of july in english. US Independence Day renamed for Brits as Rebellion Day?
Better put than my original reply but exactly how I feel too, Véro ;-)
Simply because 'Fête Nationale' or 'le quatorze juillet' is a lot shorter than 'Journée commémorative de la prise de la Bastille'. I have no problems calling it Bastille Day IN ENGLISH, I wouldn't call it anything but le quatorze juillet in French.
For me it will always be Bastille Day and I most certainly will not be calling it anything else. My late wife, who as a lot of people know, was French also used to call it Bastille Day. Looking forward to the Vide Grenier tomorrow up in the town of Mirande which historically has always been very well attended with plenty of stalls.