Ahead of Bastille Day, Slowing Down to Glean its Many Meanings
Plus, Tips on Choosing Where to Stay in Paris, & News on Art and Film
This Wednesday marks yet another Bastille Day, the 14th-of-July celebration that marks France's “Fête Nationale” (national celebration). Rather than telling you what you already know— e.g. fireworks erupting over the Eiffel Tower, military parades on the Champs-Elysées, etc.— I've aimed to scratch past the rote soundbites and predictable, chipper coverage of the annual event, slowing down to delve more deeply into the history and diverse meanings of the holiday.
First, most people associate Bastille Day with uncompromising revolutionary fervor and total rejection of the monarchy in favor of a new Republic. After all, that's its primary meaning in the current day.
But when it was first celebrated in 1880, over 100 years after the French Revolution of 1789, it in fact commemorated two separate, and seemingly contradictory, events: the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, thought to be one of the “triggering” events of the Revolution— and an often-forgotten ceremony on July 14th, 1790 called the Fete de la Federation— one that was attended by King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, and celebrating….constitutional monarchy.
This came as a huge surprise to me. After all, Bastille Day rests in today's popular imagination as a staunchly Republican (in the French sense) holiday— not one that is in any way associated with monarchy. But in 1790, constitutional monarchy (a system practiced today in the United Kingdom) was the envisioned outcome of the revolution.
And in 1880, when Bastille Day and the Fête Nationale was first celebrated, the government of France's Third Republic felt it would be more appropriate to forge a symbolic compromise between the royalists and conservatives and those who wished to do away with all commemorations of France's monarchical past.
Next, let's travel back to the 1790s for a look at one of the oddities from the decade's more radical revolutionary moments: a period when staunch anti-monarchists moved to efface all royal and religious symbolism from public and political life, going so far as to create a whole new calendar.
In October 1793, mere days after Queen Marie Antoinette was executed and a few months after King Louis XVI met the same fate, a new “Republican” calendar (calendrier républicain) was introduced. It retroactively named what had been formerly known as 1792 “Year 1 of Liberty”.
The authors of the calendar changed the names of months and the days of the week, eliminating all Judeo-Christian religious references and replacing these with Latin-based names that most frequently referred to plants and other natural phenomena.
Replacing “Saint’s Days” in the Gregorian calendar, each day of the year was assigned a seasonally appropriate plant, flower, fruit, or other food/food preparation item (for example, October 4th corresponds to Potiron (winter squash or pumpkin); May 25th is Mélisse (lemon balm); etc).
Hours were more than doubled, and weeks were divided into “décades” of 10 days each. Time itself had been "reformed” in the spirit of revolutionary fervor— and many would argue the calendar also emblematized a worrisome tendency for new regimes (especially those with a totalitarian streak) to try to erase the past entirely. In any event, it's a fascinating relic.
Next, if you missed our previous portrait of the inspiring Olympe de Gouges and her bold re-writing of the Declaration of the Rights of Man to— gasp!— include women in the new set of rights afforded by the Revolution— why not spend part of “Bastille Day week” reading up on the extraordinary pamphleteer, playwright, abolitionist and proto-feminist?
Changing tack and moving to more practical matters, deciding where to stay is one of the most difficult decisions we all have to make when planning a trip somewhere, especially when you've never been to x place. With that in mind, I've put together a handy guide to help you figure out accommodations in Paris or elsewhere in France.
This isn't a specific list of hotels I recommend (I know this may disappoint some of you, but since I rarely stay in hotels in the city I don't have much authority on this point anyway). Instead, I take you through a to-do list before you book, from nailing down your budget to learning about each of Paris’ main neighborhoods (see below), figuring out whether an apartment rental might be for you, and considering the mobility of yourself and your co-travelers. This will help you narrow your choices and make a smart one. I hope it helps!
And on a related note, if you didn't get a chance to peruse our long, in-depth guide to all 20 of Paris’ arrondissements (districts) and tips on what to see and do in each, it's a very useful resource for planning your trip as well— including the thorny issue of where to hang your hat at the end of a day of exploration.
If cheese tours and tastings are of interest to you, take a look at my full review of Paroles de Fromagers, a delightful and friendly address between the Canal Saint-Martin and Belleville that's become my go-to for cheese plates and workshops. In it, I chat with owner and co-founder Pierre Brisson, who shares some juicy (or shall I say, cheesy) news about a forthcoming opening in the capital.
Onto the health and safety front, France has pursued its four-stage opening plan since May, with indoor dining and other venues now opening after months of closure. But the more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus is on the rise in France, especially in Paris, and officials are watching the numbers cautiously before lifting further safety measures. See the latest on Covid-19 cases, vaccinations, and travel restrictions in France in my full guide to safety in the capital.
Last but not least, I've got two new exclusive features for paid subscribers to the Paris Unlocked newsletter this week:
First, a review of French filmmaker Agnès Varda's delightful 1976 documentary and love letter to her Parisian neighborhood, Daguérrotypes. This is a quiet film with startlingly humane and insightful portraits of the residents of the Rue Daguerre in Paris— and it's one that touched me deeply, particularly since I lived nearby for a couple of years and am very attached to the street it pays tribute to.
Secondly, and in another tribute to artists that have left enduring marks on Parisian life and culture, I report on plans to carry out a long-held dreams of the late conceptual artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude: draping the Arc de Triomphe in vibrant, silvery-grey fabric this fall. Read more to learn about the planned transformation, and how it keeps the spirit of two visionaries alive.
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Well friends, that's about all I've got for now. Without wishing to sound repetitive, I strongly encourage you to drop me a line if you have any ideas or wishes for future coverage at Paris Unlocked or in this newsletter. Simply hit “reply” to this email, or write to editor@parisunlocked.com.
Happy Bastille Day/ Bonne Fête Nationale!