Bastille Day
Prise de la Bastille Jean-Pierre Houël (1735-1813) – Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Bastille was a 14th-century fortress that became a notorious state prison in Paris. An angry mob assaulted the Bastille—which had come to symbolize the French monarchy‘s oppression of the people—on July 14, 1789, freeing the political prisoners held there and launching the French Revolution. July 14 has been celebrated since that time in France as Fête Nationale, as well as in French territories in the Pacific, with parades, fireworks and dancing in the streets. In Tahiti and the rest of French Polynesia, it is called Tiurai or Heiva, and is celebrated for most of the month. More… Discuss
France (UK: /frɑːns/; US: 
i/fræns/; French: [fʁɑ̃s] (
)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a sovereign country in Western Europe that includes several overseas regions and territories.[note 12] Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of only three countries (with Morocco and Spain) to have both Atlantic and Mediterranean coastlines. Due to its shape, it is often referred to in French as l’Hexagone (“The Hexagon“).
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