Has anyone been anywhere special in France on Bastille Day? I don't fancy hacking through Paris to see the big parade, just thought a small town with a nice Muni might fill the bill.
thanks!
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In smaller town & villages its often just things in the evening like food stalls with tables set out for communal eating with fireworks at the end of it. If you choose a town to stop at then google for town website & it should list the events. Might be a bit early in the year yet though.
Almost anywhere will have something going on. Our friends are there every 14th July - and wherever they are they seem to report feasts, or parades, or fetes, all followed by fireworks. The municipal site at Clermont l'Herault certainly had a spectacular display, from their photographs, as did another site at Marcenay in Burgundy. They also went somewhere in Brittany, which had a 'historic' themed event, where the streets were closed. I'm not sure whether they guillotined anyone at the end of it, but certainly the whole town seemed to be behind it and everyone was dressed up.
Which area of France are you likely to be visiting, and I'll ask them if they recommend anywhere special.
We were at a small private site in the south where the site owner was cross with the village mayor for not inviting tourists for drinks at the town hall.
She sniffed and said he wasn't up to the job, and promptly organised a drinks party for everyone on her site, "devant les sanitaires a 1900"....and we learned that Vin Blanc Pamplemousse seems innocuous, but certainly isn't..
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The other festival which is great is on 21 June, Midsummer day, when every village and town celebrates with the FetE de la Musique with singing, bands, children from the schools performing, dancing, eating at long tables...... A great day to be in France!
Thanks Val (and others!). We're at the planning stage and haven't really decided where to go. We were thinking Aix les Bains, as that's an area we don't know, but now we're thinking 'South' and 'hotter'. Might head towards Carcassone possibly, as I understand they have fireworks and a scenic campsite. But we're open to suggestions.
We spent the 14th in France about 30 years ago in a village that might have been St Sozy. We were having a great time. There was a 'bal' and supposed to be fireworks .... then the heavens opened!! We got v soggy in St Sozy
I'm liking the sound of Berriow's bloody-minded site owner!
We Did Nancy Last year, and they let off Fireworks over the river and had things going on in the town, we were late getting there, and didnt really know what to expect, but the fireworks were very good.
the Year before we were in Veynes for the Tour De France, and this is a small village, but they also had fireworks on the football field to music, with a Story. Speaking to a Dutch couple, they said these fireworks were better than Rotterdam on New years Eve.
We are going to be in Gap this year for TdF and Bastille day.
Fabulous show at Carcasonne ... they use the old town walls ... people watch from miles around at hillside vantage points, as well as from points on the Midi canal and within the new town.
We were in Murol in the Auvergne a couple of years ago. There was a lot going on with people dressed up in period costumes all day with muskets and cannons going off and then a massive Firework Display over the castle in the evening.
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Thanks all!
I think we'll either go to Carcassone or potentially back to St Sozy to give it a 2nd chance after 30 years. There seem to be good sites of the kind we like in both places. I'm guessing OH will go for Carcassone as it's close to the cassoulet belt.