BASTILLE DAY July 14, 2018, Vive La France!

[appalachiablue]

Millions of French people all over the world are celebrating Bastille Day, a holiday that honors democracy and equality in France. Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution. On July 14, 1789, just two days after the revolution began, a mob broke into the Bastille Fortress in Paris, which held stockpiles of weapons as well as political prisoners. After taking gunpowder and arms, the mob killed the prison's governor and infamously held his head on a stick, according to the British Library. The storming sent a signal to the French monarchy that the French people were embracing the revolution's motto, liberté, égalité, fraternité, or liberty, equality and brotherhood. The riot was a call for the establishment of a republic in France in the face of an oppressive regime and food shortages that spurred on the revolution. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Marseillaise

[WhiteTara]

1. My great uncle (tothe 7th) who was there

to help write the French constitution was caught up in the mob. In order to escape them, he used his wooden leg to hang from a lamp post! very funny.

[appalachiablue]

2. What a wonderful story! Mon dieu. Tell more please :)

[WhiteTara]

3. He and Tallyrand were both in love with the same woman.

Tallyrand won; he was more exciting. He was there as an emissary for Washington and as the artistocrats were fleeing, he would buy the most beautiful pieces and he bought all of the silver and china for the White House, because he recognized that you must have a presence to deal with heads of state.

There have been many books written about him. https://www.amazon.com/Gentleman-Revolutionary-Gouverneur-Morris-Constitution/dp/0743256026

[appalachiablue]

4. That's fascinating and something to be very proud of in your family.

I did a refresher on Morris and Talleyrand. Both polished intellects and diplomats, unlike some now! well suited to the challenges of their times. I knew T. was a womanizer, Comtesse Adelaide was the woman both men loved, correct? Morris was involved in so many matters and accomplished a great deal. Thanks for sharing this terrific heritage.

Postscript, in those intense times of terror and growth in America, France and Europe, the two figures stand out. It's hard to imagine what revolutionary France was like then, and I've traveled there. Same for the American Colonies during the Revolution. Now I'm pledged to read up on the period. In Jefferson's time in Paris, I read that there were so many destitute people, esp. prostitutes everywhere throughout the city, yet he and Franklin (I believe) didn't write much or anything of the horrid poverty around them. It must have been very common, ordinary in those times.
I love film and recently re-watched on TCM the 1930s Dickens classic, 'A Tale of Two Cities' with Ronald Colman- great actors, novel and movie.