Apres le jour

[tealin]

So ... what was up with Bastille Day this year?

I mean, not in France; obviously there were parades and fireworks and stuff. I mean in the U.S. of A. I never remember this much attention being paid to Bastille Day outside of 'Learning about the culture is just as important as learning the language' bloody useless French class. Did I just never notice it before? Is it a California thing?* Or is it, as I cynically suspect, because we have a new administration and thus it's OK to not hate France anymore so anyone with an international perspective is celebrating this by overcompensating?

*very much doubt this

Comments

[last-archangel.livejournal.com]

I don't think it's very good for one's Karma to celebrate a day which marks the deaths of so many civilians. Days like that should remembered, but not celebrated.

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

Weeelll, most Americans can't say 'quatorze juillet' ... it'd either be 'Cat-oars Juliet' or 'Cat-oars Joo-yay' the way 'croissant' becomes 'cruss-ONT'. It's a marvel they can remember Cinco de Mayo, though there's a much larger endemic Mexican population than French, and until this year, no one had enough of an interest in France or its national day to bother even trying to pronounce it...

[noodledaddy.livejournal.com]

We had an anchor at the TV station in San Diego who liked the idea of broadcasting in a second language. She thought the language should be French.

Yes, this was the same anchor who not know who the noted Spanish artist who died was (PICK-ah-so) and who, after having to fill in on the noon news for a week, was heard to say "Man, these eight-hour days are killing me."

[twirlynoodle.livejournal.com]

I believe the only person to be killed in the storming of the Bastille was the prison director, but I may be wrong ...