En Parie…

Unfolds Across Two Extraordinary Days
We are should have had enough of random explosions this week here in Washington. But we are still tempted to head to Paris for Monday’s remarkable celebration of a mob that assaulted a prison holding all of seven inmates.

It is their version of Lexington and Concord, celebrated on the opposite side of the Atlantic.

On 14 July 1789, thousands of Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress, then a potent symbol of royal authority. The day before, King Louis XVI had dismissed his finance minister, Jacques Necker, helping spark the uprising.

A century later, the law of 6 July 1880 established 14 July as France’s national holiday. It commemorated not only the storming of the Bastille but also the Fête de la Fédération of 14 July 1790, when nearly 400,000 people gathered on the Champ-de-Mars and Louis XVI swore an oath to the Nation.

The first official military parade was held at Longchamp in 1880. The parade assumed its modern home on the Champs-Élysées in 1980, where it remains today. Fireworks launched from the Eiffel Tower became a tradition during the 1960s and have grown steadily more spectacular with each passing decade.

On Monday evening, 13 July, the Eiffel Tower fireworks will illuminate the Champ-de-Mars in a thirty-five-minute display celebrating the 400th anniversary of the French Navy.

Then, on Tuesday morning, 14 July, one of the largest military parades in recent years will proceed down the Champs-Élysées, with representatives of France’s allies seated in the presidential reviewing.

Bastille Day 2026 at a Glance
• Eiffel Tower Fireworks: Monday, 13 July, 11:00 p.m.

• Military Parade: Tuesday, 14 July, 10:00 a.m.–Noon along the Champs-Élysées. Free admission, but arrive by 6:30 a.m. for good viewing.

• Fireworks remain on 13 July, a tradition adopted following the 2016 Nice terrorist attack, whose tenth anniversary falls this year.

• All principal events are free. The Uber ride to Dulles for your flight is not.

Highlights
• Dual commemoration: the Storming of the Bastille and the Fête de la Fédération.

• Centennial of the Flame beneath the Arc de Triomphe Association, founded in 1926.

• 400 years of the French Navy, established by Cardinal Richelieu in 1626, serving as the principal theme of the 2026 celebration.

Editor’s Note: The Louvre will be closed on 14 July 2026

Copyeight 2026 Vic Socotra
http://www.vicsocotra.com aware this morning we are not at wear with
Iran this morning, but with some