Bastille Day

Today is Bastille Day (English term), or more commonly called La Fête Nationale, and in France, it marks the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 and the start of the French Revolution. In a sense it is similar to our Independence Day and is filled with celebrations around town. I missed the military parade earlier in the day due to travel, but I did get to see the evening fireworks and Champs de Mars concert at the foot of the Eiffel Tower with my friend Alli and some of her friends.

The theme of the concert was equality, more specifically to advocate tolerance of other nationalities. Their lineup constituted over 50 artists and it was very nice. I really didn't understand what they were singing or saying (minus a Michael Jackson song they played), but I certainly enjoyed the day. At just the concert, 1.2 million people showed up. To put that into perspective, that's larger than the population of Tucson. Fantastic!

Here's the concert at dusk.


Here's what 1.2 million people may look like.



The fireworks show.