Today is Bastille Day, an official holiday in France, which celebrates the storming of the Bastille, a notorious prison, and marks the start of the French Revolution back in 1789. The Bastille was pulled down by the mob, and so there is nothing left to see. However, there is an outline of where it stood in the Place de la Bastille, which my sister Susan and I walked past in May of 2019 on our way to Place des Vosges, four blocks away and considered one of the most beautiful squares in Paris, and perhaps in all of Europe, and seen in the above photograph. It dates from 1612, and was originally called Place Royal, but after the French Revolution, the name was changed, and I suspect a number of the aristocracy who lived there at the time lost their heads, as well as their homes. But happily, unlike last year, when everything was locked down due to the coronavirus pandemic, Paris will once again be celebrating Bastille Day with a military parade down the Champs-Elysees and a fireworks display at the Eiffel Tower. And if you catch a flight now, you might still be able to take part in some of the action. Better hurry.
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