Quatorze Juliet

It should be noted that today is Quatorze Juliet, Bastille Day or July 14th - the French National Day - so I should really be in France not Ireland, however at least I am closer than usual by being in the northern hemisphere. This national day celebrates a time when the common people rose up against the monarchy to argue for a constitution - when discussions failed the people decided to storm the Bastille (a place where many prisoners had been held on the say so of the monarch without any right of appeal) on the 14th of July 1789, to demand a constitution.

On the 21 May 1880, Benjamin Raspail proposed a law to have "the Republic choose the 14 July as a yearly national holiday". The Assembly voted and approved, favouring 14 July against 4 August (honouring the end of the feudal system on 4 August 1789). The law was made official on 6 July 1880, and the Ministry of the Interior recommended to prefects that the day should be "celebrated with all the brilliance that the local resources allow". Indeed, the celebrations of the new holiday in 1880 were particularly magnificent.

Current day celebrations are held all over France, with the largest being in Paris on the Champs Elysee. The president used to give an interview to members of the press, discussing the situation of the country, recent events and projects for the future. Nicolas Sarkozy, elected president in 2007, has chosen not to give it. The President also holds a garden party at the Palais de l'Elysée.

Bastille Day falls during the Tour de France and is traditionally a day on which French riders try to take a stage victory for France, working harder than they might otherwise.

Article 17 of the Constitution of France gives the President the authority to pardon offenders, and since 1991 the President has pardoned many petty offenders (mainly traffic offences) on 14 July. In 2007, President Sarkozy declined to continue the practice.

Happy 8th birthday James.