Before we start just a reminder itâs not called Bastille day in France but âle quatorze juilletâ or, less often, âla fĂȘte nationaleâ.
If you say âJour de la Bastilleâ while in France, you will get some strange looks!
Bastille Day in Paris = Big Mess!
Every year, le quatorze juillet starts with the very traditional âDĂ©filĂ©â (the military parade) in the morning.
The défilé showcases not only 1000s of military, police, firemen and supporting personnel but also horses, tanks, helicopters, fighter jets and more.
The parade starts at the top of the Champs-ElysĂ©es and ends in front of the presidentâs tribune on the Place de la Concorde, so to accommodate the millions of people who come to watch the parade, most of the lower Champs-ĂlysĂ©es are outfitted with stadium-style seating and the rest have crowd control barriers.
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Les Champs-Elysées Around Bastille Day
In order to prepare for that, worker crews start the installation many days before and it takes them more than a week to remove them completely.
Needless to say that you wonât enjoy the scenery the same way.
(Note the pictures in this post were taken on the July 17th 2009, 3 days after Bastille Day â as you can see, itâs still a bit messy)
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Huge Concert Under the Eiffel Tower
In the evening, the city of Paris puts together a massive free concert.
The concert takes place on the Champ de Mars right near at the feet of the Eiffel tower and usually gathers up about one million peopleâŠ
Huge Crowds in Paris For Bastille Day
Then finally the day ends with the fireworks which are usually fired near the Tour Eiffel and even more, people show up for that (look for my next post on Parisâ Bastille Day fireworks secret spot, avoiding having to sit out for the whole afternoon).
As you can imagine, Paris is transformed to be able to accept the millions of people who descend on the Champs-Elysées, the Champ de Mars and anywhere in the city where there is a clear view of the Eiffel Tower.
Restaurants are crowded, hotels full⊠Busy streets are full of people partying at night, some being just happy, some being drunk.
Closed Subway Stations
On top of that, some MĂ©tro stations are also closed on that day and combined with the number of people traveling into the city, taking the MĂ©tro can become quite an ordeal.
In conclusion, if you want to experience our big âfĂȘte nationaleâ and party with the French, youâll have a blast and a unique memory. However, if you are a regular tourist and want to see all the famous Parisian landmarks in their ânaturalâ state, then try to avoid Paris for those 2 weeks!
The video below is from the 2007 Défilé
* (article written in 2009)
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