the 14th of july, on the other hand, commemorates both the storming of the bastille (1789) and the fête de la féderation* of 1790 -- a massive party which, uh, commemorated the first anniversary of the storming of the bastille (and the unity of france, end of the estates, et cetera). all that is to say that nobody says "le jour de la bastille"; it's "le quatorze juillet" or "la fête nationale."
so it is bastille day. but like, it isn't.
*bonus! from wikipedia, re: ça ira, ça ira --
the title and theme of the refrain were inspired by benjamin franklin**, in france as a representative as the continental congress, who was very popular among the french people. when asked about the american revolutionary war, he would reportedly reply, in somewhat broken french, "ça ira, ça ira" ("it'll be fine, it'll be fine").**ben franklin has a special place in my heart, for multiple reasons.
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