Happy Bastille Day!

[Cereal Kyller]

I think it's important to acknowlegde our oldest ally. (Yeah yeah, the Vichy regime, blah blah blah, that was really German not French.)

France currently has 4,000 troops in Afghanistan. Did you know that? If not, I don't blame you, because the Neo Con Artists running our so-called "free press" have been bashing the French ever since they proved they were smarter than us by not participating in the Iraqle 8 years ago. If there are French DUers reading this (or Franco-Americans), Happy 14th! :-)

[Sherman A1]

1. Why, Thank You

Same to Ya!

[melm00se]

2. ahhhh,,,the French Revolution

one of the biggest blood lettings of the 18th century ostensibly to free the French people from an absolute monarchy...and then, a little more than a decade later, they end up with another absolute ruler, whose campaigns across Europe led to even more deaths.

What was the purpose of the exercise?

[liberalla]

3. I always enjoy remembering this date and what it marks.

Happy Bastille Day to all!


http://1.bp.blogspot.com/__MVoD2_FqMA/TD3SRQpY4sI/AAAAAAAAD_c/nJ5QSCVSv1g/s1600/!cid_227.jpg

[Paka]

7. Such lovely pictures, liberella!!

My first Bastille Day in Paris was 1966. I danced all night at the Hotele de Ville. De Gaulle was still president at the time and I will never forget the sight of him riding in the backseat of a convertible, towering over everyone else with the French air force flying overhead. What a thrill it was to me as a 20+ something; just starting a wonderful new adventure that impacted my life more than any one other thing. Working au pair in Paris, saving my money, on the threshold of an extended global travel experience.

:loveya:

[liberalla]

10. What a wonderful memory and experience. I'm jealous!

Really - what an exciting experience to be a young independent woman in Paris.

We (my family) lived there for three years in the early 60's but I was a kid. :( My Dad was in the Air Force and we were stationed at two different bases there. This was when there were still US bases in France after WWII. He was an interpreter. I remember the big military parades and displays.

However, as an adult I was able to travel to Tahiti for Bastille Day. It's a big holiday there - the events go on all month. Now, on that trip I was old enough to dance all night... :P and I did.


Joyeux Quatorze Juillet! :hi:

[BeyondGeography]

4. A world without La France...impensable

The place is a miracle, really.

Happy Bastille Day, les copains.

[BlueMTexpat]

5. I'm merely a francophile and francophone - not of French ancestry.

French assistance to us during the first War for Independence has rarely been treated thoroughly and accurately in most accounts of early US history. It should never be underestimated. OK, it was in large part due to their continuing feuds and power struggles with England, but for whatever reason, they still helped out a lot. Without that assistance, our fledgling nation would likely never have been born. It certainly never would have become the huge nation it did without the Louisiana Purchase later on. And yes, we "paid" for that, but it was much more cost-effective and peaceful than going to war with another nation over it.

Unfortunately and shamefully, Native Americans suffered at the hands of all European colonizing powers and later on, at our own.

Thanks for posting this!

[Paka]

6. Thank You...Thank You...Merci Beaucoup!

Without the assistance from France, we would never have won the Revolutionary War. It's that simple. And then it was their war debt from coming to our aid that led to their overthrow of their Monarchy. The French have always been our friends. Viva le 14 Juillet.

Wish I was computer savvy enough to embed the wonderful Marseilles scene from Casablanca. It's one of my all time favorites.

:party:

[SpiralHawk]

8. Merveilleuse

[no_hypocrisy]

9. National Anthem, La Marseillaise (w/o "under God")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcxRfg96dTQ

Arise children of the fatherland
The day of glory has arrived
Against us tyranny's
Bloody standard is raised
Listen to the sound in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers
They are coming into our midst
To cut the throats of your sons and consorts

To arms citizens Form your battalions
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows

What do they want this horde of slaves
Of traitors and conspiratorial kings?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage
What methods must be taken?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!

What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny

Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heros
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you

Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who pitilessly
Ripped out their mothers' wombs

We too shall enlist
When our elders' time has come
To add to the list of deeds
Inscribed upon their tombs
We are much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining them

Drive on sacred patriotism
Support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Join the struggle with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that in death your enemies
See your triumph and our glory!

(Now you can understand why the crowd got so worked up in "Casablanca".)

[somone]

11. Le plus bel hymne du monde

as sung by a 3-year-old:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mKbUH_emZoE

[no_hypocrisy]

12. C'est magnifique, mon ami et frere.

[JuniperLea]

15. That could not have been any more precious!

Thanks for posting!

[Cereal Kyller]

13. They had me at Yorktown

;-)

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

14. In honor of the day:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO99nL_at0o

[JuniperLea]

16. Rockin' honors!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7yxA9vt2-c

[Buns_of_Fire]

17. Thank you, Frenchpeople!

We True Patriots know that if you hadn't provided us with french fries during our War on Independence, Paul Hogan would never have had the strength to make his famous ride from Lexington, Kentucky, to Concord, Delaware, to ring the Liberty Bell Heard 'Round The World!:thumbsup:

Happy Bastille Day!;-)