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A FRENCH DELIGHT (R8x40)
Douglas J Dean Rodney Rooms Book 1
1- 8
1s+2s+3s set, cross RH, set & ½ turn RH to face up
9-16
1s+2s+3s Promenade ending with 1s casting to 2
nd
place
17-24
1s dance RH across (1L with 2s & 1M with 3s), all chase clockwise
½ way & end with 2s & 3s turning left about
25-32
1s dance LH across (1L with 3s at top & 1M with 2s), all chase
anticlockwise ½ way & end with 2s & 3s turning right about
33-40
1L dances up & casts left while 1M dances down & casts left into
reels of 3 on opposite sides (2s give RSh to 3s to strart) 1s end
crossing to 2
nd
place
Bastille Day – Le Quatorze Juillet - La Fête Nationale
Bastille Day commemorates the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the
Bastille on 14 July 1789. The oldest and largest regular military parade in Europe is held on the morning of 14
July, on the Champs-Élysées avenue in Paris in front of the President of the Republic, French officials and foreign
guests.
On May 19, 1789, Louis XVI convened the Estates-General to hear their grievances. The deputies of the Third
Estate representing the common people (the two others were the Catholic Church and nobility) decided to break
away and form a National Assembly. On June 20 the deputies of the Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath,
swearing not to separate until a constitution had been established. They were gradually joined by delegates of
the other estates; Louis XVI started to recognize their validity on 27 June. The assembly renamed itself the
National Constituent Assembly on 9 July, and began to function as a legislature and to draft a constitution.
However, the people of Paris, fearful that they and their representatives would be attacked by the royal military,
stormed the Bastille, a fortress-prison in Paris, which besides holding a large cache of ammunition and
gunpowder, had been known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government,
and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. As it happened, at the time of the attack in July 1789
there were only seven inmates, none of great political significance.
Shortly after the storming of the Bastille, on 4 August, feudalism was abolished and on 26 August, the Declaration
of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen proclaimed.
The Fête de la Fédération on 14 July 1790 was a huge feast and official event to celebrate the uprising of the
short-lived constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of the French
Revolution. The event took place on the Champ de Mars, which was, at the time, far outside Paris. The place had
been transformed on a voluntary basis by the population of Paris itself, in what was recalled as the Journée des
brouettes ("Wheelbarrow Day").
A mass was celebrated by Talleyrand, bishop of Autun. The popular General Lafayette, as captain of the National
Guard of Paris and confidant of the king, took his oath to the constitution, followed by the King Louis XVI. After
the end of the official celebration, the day ended in a huge four-day popular feast and people celebrated with
fireworks, as well as fine wine and running naked through the streets in order to display their great freedom.
On 30 June 1878, a feast had been arranged in Paris by official decision to honour the French Republic. On 14
July 1879, another feast took place, with a semi-official aspect; the events of the day included a reception in
the Chamber of Deputies, organised and presided over by Léon Gambetta, a military review in Longchamp, and a
Republican Feast in the Pré Catelan. All through France, "people feasted much to honour the storming of the
Bastille".
In 1880, a law was made favouring 14 July against 4 August (the end of the feudal system) as the National Day
and the Ministry of the Interior recommended that the day should be "celebrated with all the brilliance that the
local resources allow". Indeed, the celebrations of the new holiday in 1880 were particularly magnificent.
In the debate leading up to the adoption of the holiday, Henri Martin, chairman of the French Senate, said:
Do not forget that behind this 14 July, where victory of the new era over the ancien régime was bought by
fighting, do not forget that after the day of 14 July 1789, there was the day of 14 July 1790.... This [latter] day
cannot be blamed for having shed a drop of blood, for having divided the country. It was the consecration of the
unity of France.... If some of you might have scruples against the first 14 July, they certainly hold none against
the second. Whatever difference which might part us, something hovers over them, it is the great images of
national unity, which we all desire, for which we would all stand, willing to die if necessary.
The Bastille Day Military Parade is the French military parade that has been held on the morning of 14 July each
year in Paris since 1880. While previously held elsewhere within or near the capital city, since 1918 it has been
held on the Champs-Élysées, with the exception of the period of German occupation from 1940 to 1944.
In other countries Bastille Day is celebrated:
Liège (Belgium) celebrates the Bastille Day each year since the end of the WWI, as Liège was decorated by
the Légion d'Honneur for its unexpected resistance during the Battle of Liège.
Budapest’s two-day celebration is sponsored by the Institut de France.
The Auckland (NZ) suburb of Remuera hosts an annual French themed street festival.
Franschhoek (French corner), Western Cape (SA), has celebrated with a week-end festival for over 15 years.
London has celebrations at various locations including Battersea Park.
Over 50 US cities conduct annual celebrations, including Milwaukee where the four-day street festival begins
with a “Storming of the Bastille” with a 43-foot replica of the Eiffel Tower!
