Monday, July 14, 2008

Le jour de gloire

THE THEME SONG OF THE DAY


Happy Bastille Day to all of our French friends. For my money, France has the best, totally kick-ass national anthem with the most brilliant music in the entire world. Have any of you English speakers ever read a translation of the lyrics? It's blood in the streets, gore, violence and triumph! I just love it!

Aux armes citoyens
Formez vos bataillons
Marchons, marchons
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

To arms citizens,
Form your battalions
March, march
Let impure blood
Water our furrows!

In these pictures, Le Roi Louis et La Reine Marie Antoinette parade through the streets of St. Louis' Soulard neighborhood, hounded by the mob, only to meet their inevitable fate. Then, naturellement, everybody went out for a few more drinks. Vive la Republique! I really love France.

TOMORROW: Scenes from an execution.
WHAT I'M LISTENING TO: La Marseilles, as orchestrated and arranged by Hector Berlioz, one of my favorite mad geniuses. That's what you hear above.

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7 comments:

  1. Catherine VandeVeldeJuly 14, 2008 at 9:31 AM

    Ces photos sont bonnes! J'adore France aussi.

    Okay, that was my best franglaise!

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  2. KimJuly 14, 2008 at 12:54 PM

    Oh my! Murderous citizenry taking to the streets of St. Louis! Beware tyrants.
    Very fun photos of the. . .um. . .festivities, yes. Ahem cough, cough. In Seattle, everyone's just been eating and dancing.
    -Kim
    Seattle Daily Photo

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  3. VirginiaJuly 14, 2008 at 12:58 PM

    Happy Quatorze Juillet mon ami. Hang on to your head.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Kris McCrackenJuly 14, 2008 at 7:01 PM

    So who gets to play Robespierre?

    Long live the revolution! Long live liberty! Long live France!

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  5. OlivierJuly 14, 2008 at 11:27 PM

    superbe cette fête du 14 juillet.
    this wonderful celebration of 14 July.

    ReplyDelete
  6. • Eliane •July 15, 2008 at 12:15 AM

    Bon quatorze juillet!

    Love the let them eat cake post - funny.

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  7. Daniel Chérouvrier July 15, 2008 at 2:21 AM

    Thanks for your post.
    Let´s hope that our ridiculous parenthesis with our small king will stop quickly.
    Salut et Fraternité

    Saint-Just alias Deslilas

    ReplyDelete