EQ2_Bloggers
07-14-2010, 07:02 PM
http://eq2players.station.sony.com/images/fr/Banners/bastilleday.jpg
Traveling is not just visiting a part of the world. It’s much more than that! When you think about past travels, you remember so many emotions and feelings that you experienced.*Even if you have never been to a city, you still have emotional impressions of it. Well, I spent the past few days thinking deeply and came across many long forgotten gems buried in the depths of my closet. One of my favorite gems is the celebration of Bastille Day in Paris. I was lucky enough to have witnessed this celebration on several occasions. Since Bastille Day is upon us again, and being a true history buff, I tried to remember the sequence of events that led to the French Revolution and these infamous words came to my mind:
http://www.soe.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Storming_Bastille_1789.gif”There’s no bread, let them eat cake…
There’s no end to what they’ll take…
But they’re marching to Bastille Day…
The king has kneeled, to let his kingdom rise…
For they marched up to Bastille Day”.
The Storming of the Bastille
For those few who are not familiar with Bastille Day (a.k.a. “14 Juillet” in French), it is the French national holiday, commemorating the storming of the Bastille in 1789 at the beginning of the French Revolution.* Bastille was a prison, whose walls and imprisoned people represented the tyranny of the French monarchy, the arbitrary and absolute rule of King Louis XVI and the ancient regime. The storming of La Bastille was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation during the French Revolution.*Even though the Bastille actually only housed seven prisoners at the time of the Revolution, it represented to the French citizens an escape from the oppressive monarchy & the birth of the three most famous French ideals: Liberty, Equality & Fraternity!
http://www.soe.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Marie_Antoinette.jpgBastille Day meant the end of the reign of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. I have to *admit*my love for Bastille Day is quite hypocritical because I*absolutely adore Marie Antoinette, the very woman the French citizens revolted against. She was viewed as a heartless, elitist, anti-revolutionary wicked witch.* What about her style and class…I mean macaroons, champagne, dresses, shoes galore, the flower-filled fields, and the gilded architecture of le Petit Trianon (a small château on the grounds of Versailles)…what’s not to love?* Haha, could it be that I have read too many books about the French Revolution? Perhaps I’ve seen Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette (http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/marieantoinette/index.html) too many times…but every year when July 14th rolls around I cannot wait to pretend, for a minute, that I’m dressed in a fabulous pink hoop skirt, coiffed powdered wig and*glistening diamonds while running amuck in the glorious Rococo rooms of Château Versailles. A girl can dream right?
Bastille Day Celebrations in Paris
Paris is the city of a thousand clichés – the ‘City of Lights’, and Hemingway’s much quoted ‘Moveable Feast’ amongst them, but for once it is also a city that justifies the hype. Bastille Day happens to be the biggest party in France.
The best Bastille Day celebrations in France are of course in Paris. As if the city was not lively enough, on July 13 and 14 of each year, it explodes into one huge celebration. The whole of France is in celebration mode, but no other city can outshine Paris. Paris does its very best to ensure that the festivities go off with a bang.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_ChampsElysees.jpg
Many people are preparing to celebrate with vigorous impetuosity. Champagne corks will pop, the Marseillaise will be sung, and frogs and escargots (snails) will run scared, if they have not done so already.
The celebrations start on the eve of Bastille Day (July 13). It is traditional for firemen to host balls at their local fire stations. The festivities include live music and dancing which often makes its way to the street. The firemen dress in their uniforms, much to the delight of the ladies. What woman can resist a man in uniform? There are always some late night fireworks and the partying goes on until the wee hours of morning
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_FiremenBall.jpg
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_firemenBall2.jpg
Early the next morning, festivities in Paris begin with an official military parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is not just any parade; it is the largest regularly held parade in the world! The air is filled with the sound of planes as the Air Force and Naval planes and helicopters put on a show overhead.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Bastille_Day_Horsemen.jpg
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_Band.jpg
As dusk approaches, everyone heads to the spectacular fire works show. It could be nothing less than spectacular with a backdrop like the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_firework.jpg
The Bastille Day celebration in Paris is an event not to be missed if you are in Paris on the 14th of July. If you happen to be there then enjoy it to the fullest!
Bastille Day in EverQuest II
No, that’s not a quest…Bastille Day is also celebrated on Storms, the EQII French server. The players all arrive dressed up with their best costumes and ready to party.* The celebration includes: fireworks, Bastille Day quizzes, dancing, drinking and prizes…Oh and I almost forgot to mention the cake for the hungry prisoners. The celebration is held in different zones with a reenactment of the storming of the Bastille and the liberation of the prisoners!
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Storms_14juillet.jpg
Celebrating Bastille Day in Other Places
These days, Bastille Day celebrations have spread around the world, with many cities including New York hosting French-themed events on July 14th. You too can help celebrate the holiday by joining a local celebration and eating French food.
Although, it isn’t really customary to wish anyone a happy 14th of July, I like well wishes and would like to extend that one to you: Joyeux 14 Juillet!
Susan “Soffrina” Rummani
International Community Relations
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Author: Community
Visit This Blog Page... (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/celebrating-bastille-day-parisian-style/)
Visit StationBlog (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/)
Traveling is not just visiting a part of the world. It’s much more than that! When you think about past travels, you remember so many emotions and feelings that you experienced.*Even if you have never been to a city, you still have emotional impressions of it. Well, I spent the past few days thinking deeply and came across many long forgotten gems buried in the depths of my closet. One of my favorite gems is the celebration of Bastille Day in Paris. I was lucky enough to have witnessed this celebration on several occasions. Since Bastille Day is upon us again, and being a true history buff, I tried to remember the sequence of events that led to the French Revolution and these infamous words came to my mind:
http://www.soe.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Storming_Bastille_1789.gif”There’s no bread, let them eat cake…
There’s no end to what they’ll take…
But they’re marching to Bastille Day…
The king has kneeled, to let his kingdom rise…
For they marched up to Bastille Day”.
The Storming of the Bastille
For those few who are not familiar with Bastille Day (a.k.a. “14 Juillet” in French), it is the French national holiday, commemorating the storming of the Bastille in 1789 at the beginning of the French Revolution.* Bastille was a prison, whose walls and imprisoned people represented the tyranny of the French monarchy, the arbitrary and absolute rule of King Louis XVI and the ancient regime. The storming of La Bastille was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation during the French Revolution.*Even though the Bastille actually only housed seven prisoners at the time of the Revolution, it represented to the French citizens an escape from the oppressive monarchy & the birth of the three most famous French ideals: Liberty, Equality & Fraternity!
http://www.soe.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Marie_Antoinette.jpgBastille Day meant the end of the reign of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. I have to *admit*my love for Bastille Day is quite hypocritical because I*absolutely adore Marie Antoinette, the very woman the French citizens revolted against. She was viewed as a heartless, elitist, anti-revolutionary wicked witch.* What about her style and class…I mean macaroons, champagne, dresses, shoes galore, the flower-filled fields, and the gilded architecture of le Petit Trianon (a small château on the grounds of Versailles)…what’s not to love?* Haha, could it be that I have read too many books about the French Revolution? Perhaps I’ve seen Sofia Coppola’s film Marie Antoinette (http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/marieantoinette/index.html) too many times…but every year when July 14th rolls around I cannot wait to pretend, for a minute, that I’m dressed in a fabulous pink hoop skirt, coiffed powdered wig and*glistening diamonds while running amuck in the glorious Rococo rooms of Château Versailles. A girl can dream right?
Bastille Day Celebrations in Paris
Paris is the city of a thousand clichés – the ‘City of Lights’, and Hemingway’s much quoted ‘Moveable Feast’ amongst them, but for once it is also a city that justifies the hype. Bastille Day happens to be the biggest party in France.
The best Bastille Day celebrations in France are of course in Paris. As if the city was not lively enough, on July 13 and 14 of each year, it explodes into one huge celebration. The whole of France is in celebration mode, but no other city can outshine Paris. Paris does its very best to ensure that the festivities go off with a bang.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_ChampsElysees.jpg
Many people are preparing to celebrate with vigorous impetuosity. Champagne corks will pop, the Marseillaise will be sung, and frogs and escargots (snails) will run scared, if they have not done so already.
The celebrations start on the eve of Bastille Day (July 13). It is traditional for firemen to host balls at their local fire stations. The festivities include live music and dancing which often makes its way to the street. The firemen dress in their uniforms, much to the delight of the ladies. What woman can resist a man in uniform? There are always some late night fireworks and the partying goes on until the wee hours of morning
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_FiremenBall.jpg
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_firemenBall2.jpg
Early the next morning, festivities in Paris begin with an official military parade on the Champs-Élysées in Paris. This is not just any parade; it is the largest regularly held parade in the world! The air is filled with the sound of planes as the Air Force and Naval planes and helicopters put on a show overhead.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Bastille_Day_Horsemen.jpg
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_Band.jpg
As dusk approaches, everyone heads to the spectacular fire works show. It could be nothing less than spectacular with a backdrop like the Eiffel Tower or the Arc de Triomphe.
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/BastilleDay_firework.jpg
The Bastille Day celebration in Paris is an event not to be missed if you are in Paris on the 14th of July. If you happen to be there then enjoy it to the fullest!
Bastille Day in EverQuest II
No, that’s not a quest…Bastille Day is also celebrated on Storms, the EQII French server. The players all arrive dressed up with their best costumes and ready to party.* The celebration includes: fireworks, Bastille Day quizzes, dancing, drinking and prizes…Oh and I almost forgot to mention the cake for the hungry prisoners. The celebration is held in different zones with a reenactment of the storming of the Bastille and the liberation of the prisoners!
http://www.station.sony.com/images/en/BastilleDay/Storms_14juillet.jpg
Celebrating Bastille Day in Other Places
These days, Bastille Day celebrations have spread around the world, with many cities including New York hosting French-themed events on July 14th. You too can help celebrate the holiday by joining a local celebration and eating French food.
Although, it isn’t really customary to wish anyone a happy 14th of July, I like well wishes and would like to extend that one to you: Joyeux 14 Juillet!
Susan “Soffrina” Rummani
International Community Relations
http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/comments/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/ (http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gocomments/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/) http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/delicious/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/ (http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godelicious/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/) http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/stumble/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/ (http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/gostumble/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/) http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/digg/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/ (http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/godigg/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/) http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/reddit/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/ (http://feeds.wordpress.com/1.0/goreddit/stationblog.wordpress.com/2291/) http://stats.wordpress.com/b.gif?host=stationblog.wordpress.com&blog=76501&post=2291&subd=stationblog&ref=&feed=1
Author: Community
Visit This Blog Page... (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/2010/07/14/celebrating-bastille-day-parisian-style/)
Visit StationBlog (http://stationblog.wordpress.com/)