Bastille Day Celebration

“Aux armes citoyens

Formez vos bataillons

Marchons, marchons

Qu’un sang impur

Abreuve nos sillons…”

Chanting the words to La Marseillaise, the national anthem of France, we gathered to celebrate Bastille Day in northern Phoenix, Arizona.

In the delightful petite pâtisserie, Au Petit Four, my former French instructor and I met with a couple of friends to honor the holiday. Pierre, one of the charming hosts, greeted us ready to accommodate us in the French bistro.

Almost instantly, I switched my English-speaking mode to French and soon began the four-hour evening. With Pierre bringing us each course: salad Robespierre, chicken filet in Dijon sauce, nutella crepes and guest singer, Helene Pouillon, singing the most famous French songs, I did not want the night to end.

I have noticed that during dinnertime the French spend time with friends and family in an unhurried way, almost as if the food is secondary in a dinner, where the whole purpose is supposed to be the meal and satisfying our hunger. I like it.

The easygoing manner gives more room for conversation, not just chitchat, and for connecting with someone. This celebration brought my instructor, an ASU professor and a couple of friends together.

Not only did I enjoy the pleasant evening, I practiced my French before I depart to my student foreign exchange program in Lille, France.

My abroad experience has already begun from the Metropolitan city of Phoenix, Arizona.

Bastille Day or quatorze juillet is the national holiday of France, in which the French commemorate the end of absolute monarchy under Louis XVI and the beginning of a new republic.