Bastille Day in Paris
June 2nd, 2007 | 
Author: In France, it’s called “le quatorze juillet” but everywhere else it’s definitely Bastille Day on July the 14th.
This is the biggest celebration in France and, whilst it’s marked by processions everywhere in France, Paris is definitely the best place to see it.
The centre of Paris becomes a huge pedestrian zone over the course of the morning up until the parade is finished. The metro system usually isn’t fully operational either and the stations close to the route are closed in the run-up to the start of the parade around 10am. After the various roadblocks are removed, the traffic is much worse than normal (hard as that may be to believe if you’ve experienced the normal Paris traffic!). Therefore, to see the parade you’ll need to be staying somewhere within walking distance of the centre; it’s not too late to book a hotel and there’s also the option of one of the network of apartments, many of which are quite central (we stayed in the Citadine at Les Halles).
Unless you’re up very early, you’ll probably get a better view of the parade in one of the side streets rather than attempting to force your way through the massive crowds along the main parade going down the Champs-Elysee. You’ll miss seeing the president if you do this but realistically you’ve little chance to do that anyway as the best spots are taken up very early in the day. If you’re really set on seeing the president, the thing to do is to walk to the Elysee Palace just after the parade where you’ll see a continual stream of dignatories heading in for lunch.
The evening sees the fireworks show based around the Eiffel Tower. The crowds here are massive but that doesn’t matter as by far the best way to get to the perfect spot is on one of the evening dinner cruises down the Seine. If you choose the second sitting, the boat arrives at the perfect spot just as the fireworks are starting. Although the prices obviously aren’t cheap, they are far from the astronomical level that you might expect on such a day and sailing down the Seine on the evening of Bastille Day is by far the most civilised way to end the day.
What about the Bastille itself? Well, the prison was demolished in 1789 by the revolutionary government and today Place de la Bastille is a massive roundabout.
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I can’t think of a worse place to stay than Les Halles, unless you don’t mind being surrounded by sex shops, drug dealers, and homeless people!
I always recommend people stay at Ibis. The ones in Levallois and Boulogne and fairly new, in very nice areas and have easy metro access into the centre of Paris.
I was right in front of the Eiffel Tower for last year’s fireworks and while the fireworks were the best I’ve ever seen, I’d never go again. There are just too many people.
Yes, but that’s all local colour 🙂 Seriously though, where the apartments are is fine unless it’s gone downhill a lot in the last couple of years.
It’s not just at the Eiffel Tower that there are overlly many people. Whilst we were going down the river that night, I just couldn’t believe how many people there were crowded along just about the whole length of the river.
By the time the cruise boat is pulling into the dock the crowds have gone so we had a nice stroll back.