If you are in Paris on Bastille Day (July 14th), you will be able to enjoy a full range of festivities all over the City and admire the Parisian monuments on an other angle.
10:00 am Champs-Elysees
The ‘defile’ as we call it will start at 10:00 am with the arrival of the President of the French Republic, Nicolas Sarkozy (avenue de Friedland).
10:35 am: defile in the sky!
10:40 am: Defile of the troups starts.
11:25 am: defile of the helicopters.
Then, you can enjoy the rest of your day in Paris.
Why not take the kids on a boat ride on the River Seine?. My favorite is the ‘Vedettes du Pont Neuf’. If you have strollers, be prepared for the long flight of stairs to arrive at the border of the river.
You will be able to enjoy a lot of the Parisian Monuments, see the smallest and oldest home in Paris, learn lots of fun facts (like which American city was modeled after Paris?), and see the beautiful Parisian bridges up close.
After the ride, you can take a break and enjoy the little park by the boat. (Square Vert Galant)
Finish your afternoon at Notre-Dame and the Quartier Latin. Then go to your hotel or apartment to take a nap or rest as the night will be long!
You could skip the defile and the Champs Elysees and spend your day in Versailles where a grand Republican picnic will be held close to the Grand Canal. Please wear white for this special event. You will enjoy dances and live music.
The Palais de Versailes and the Trianon will be open free of charge for the public.
7:00 pm – Eiffel Tower
If you have tweenagers or teenagers, go and enjoy a free concert at the steps of the Eiffel Tower: Christophe Mae and French rocker Johnny Halliday will entertain the crowds. Johnny Halliday is widely popular in France.
Between 10:30 and 10:45 pm Eiffel Tower
The Eiffel Tower turns 120! You will be able to see the majestic 30 minutes fireworks from every part of Paris where you can see the Tower. May I suggest the Bridge Alexander III (It is the bridge that takes you from the Grand Palais/Avenue des Champs Elysees to the Invalides). Check out this photo from my daughter at the bridge to see if you like the location.
The Sacre Coeur can be a good location as you will have Paris at your steps.
Place de la Concorde could also work although you will only see the top part of the Tower.
The Fireworks will be launched from the Trocadero and the Iena Bridge. Should you want to be close to the Eiffel Tower, you have to go to the Champs de Mars.
All over Paris
The bouquet final of the fireworks will announce the start of the bals populaire (dances), the firemen dances and the concerts all around the capital.
The firemen dances (bals des pompiers) are usually free. If you see a barrel go around the crowd, drop some euros as a donation.
Click here. for the locations of all the bals des pompiers.
Happy Bastille Day!
Photos from Eiffel Tower, bal and Champs Elysees – copyright from the Phototheque OTCP
