The 14th of July is the fête nationale of France–Bastille Day.
I have fond memories of celebrating the holiday in France: In Paris, with fireworks and the Eiffel Tower–once with my friend, Christopher, the evening on which I arrived for a month of travels through the country; and once with fellow students when I was studying abroad in Sancerre. In Dijon, while in graduate school, I danced the night away at the Bal des Pompiers (the Firehouses open for parties on the eve). And in the south, as Aron and I traveled through small towns on a road trip, we celebrated by the river. For the past three years, Aron and I have taken part in the French holiday by attending Petanque tournaments on Smith Street, in Cobble Hill.
We didn’t last long yesterday in the extreme heat, I must admit (we both agreed that the beach could have been amply French, too)–but toasted the players with plastic glasses of Pastis, bought from the Ricard-sponsored booth, and swayed to Lillet-inpspired sing-a-longs. We could hear the jazz as we neared Bar Tabac–the host of the annual party–and found the crowd to be the largest yet.
Sand was brought in to fill two entire blocks of Smith Street, and teams competed in rounds of play to determine who–among the young hipsters and old expats–would be deemed champion.
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
That sounds amazing, looks like so much fun!
I like picture of the making of crepes. Yum
how fun! so who won?!?
i celebrated 3 independence day's this month (cause I was traveling to each country) however, I was working and never had the day off. We should observe every country and never work
That's sounds like fun.
Your pictures are great.
So much fun! We celebrated the US Independence Day with a little Bocce Ball–but my husband is always telling me my "rules" sound more like Pentaque. Love the photo of the bikes, gorgeous!
So I have come upon you because Aron said my dog is cute on blog camp. I adore Howard, so I must look into someone who agrees with my assessment of my adorable Basset!
I find you are people whose judgement is wise. This day looks like so much fun. I also really like the photo of the crepe.
My word verification is 'hotyhoo'. Hoo is a hoty indeed. I think Howard.
ah I was there too! Preceded by brunch at Mile End around the corner (Montreal, Jewish Deli) so so good!
always very happy to discover nyc blogs
gosh, i can imagine just how hot it was.
oh bonne fête nationale à toi aussi !!! I love pétanque and Pastis as a french woman ; )
Thanks for sharing
Ahhh, looks so fun!!
That looks like so much fun and that crepe looks delicious!
Looks like you all know how to celebrate!
My husband and I went to a Bastille Festival in Milwaukee that weekend, and it was such a fun time!
We "stormed the Bastille" with a 5k race;)