Bastille Day 1989--200th anniversary of the French Revolution. Celebration I will never forget

[bobbieinok]

I was visiting Swiss cousins on July 14, 1989. They lived a short distance from Basel, a city located at a point on the Rhine River where France, Germany, and Switzerland meet.

We had gone to a restaurant, and on the way back to their house we parked on a hill from which we could see quite far. They of course knew what date it was, but I hadn't a clue.

As we sat there talking, it grew dark. And then in France, all along the river, from Basel to slightly south of where we were as far north as we could see, the sky exploded in brilliantly colored fireworks. It was incredible! And totally unexpected (to me).

It is an experience I will never forget.

[The hill was in Germany, close to Basel and quite close to Switzerland]

[Bev54]

1. I was in Paris for Bastille Day in 2005

Was staying with friends in London and she and I went over to spend 4 days in Paris not even realizing it was Bastille days. It was right after the underground and bus bombings in London. We were in Louvre when the fighter jets did a pass by very low and we could see them out the windows. I remember my friend hit the floor when she heard them. I guess she was a little jumpy, I was not quite sure what to do. We had a good laugh about that for years. Turned out we stayed at the Bastille hotel on Bastille square ( small boutique hotel) it was great.

[Mme. Defarge]

2. Ni moi non plus!

🇫🇷 🥂 🇫🇷

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. How totally cool.

Especially because they were able to surprise you.

[electric_blue68]

4. How cool is that. While I wasn't in Paris on Bastille day...

... when my Aunt, myself, and one of her grandkids in a taxi on the way to our hotel - I'd read more French history, and looked at Google maps of Paris for weeks before I flew to Europe (to Switzerland in the French section). I knew about Bastille Day and had celebrated it here in NYC!
I got chills when we passed by the monument & statue commemorating the site!

A belated Bastille Day to our French DU Internationals, and our French-Americans!

Liberté, Fraternité & Egalité! 💖 🗼