Mefi, la Bastille ! 15 ans !
posted June 27, 2014 9:20 AM   RSS | iCal | +googleCal

Mon July 14 at 10:00 PM, 15eme arrondissement
Volontaires, 75015 Paris, France (Map & Directions)
Té les Franco-Anglophones en région parisienneuh, que diriez-vous d'un rescountre pour festoyer à la capitaleuh le 14 juillet ? On pourra baguenauder autour d'un verre entre les pets de fuech-gres ! (Ouais c plus clair l'intérieur... a bit of English inside as well)
15th anniversary meetup in Paris ! Meetup before the fireworks start, at 22h00. Volontaires metro stop.

Looking forward to meeting MeFites on Cat-Scan Day.
posted by fraula to Meetup (14 comments total)

Bastille is definitely a place to be avoided! Will have a think about some places we can go.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:21 AM on June 28, 2014


Uh, nothing happens in Place de la Bastille on the 14th---it's only called Bastille Day in English. In French it's either "la fête nationale" or just "le quatorze juillet." So, yeah, avoid Bastille if you don't want to have any fun, b/c there's nothing happening there. :-)

The main special events on the 14th as far as I know are the fireworks around the Eiffel Tower and the Bals des Pompiers.

The place to go for the fireworks and the giant open-air dance party that follows is the Champ de Mars, so that might be a place that's "so crazy it should be avoided." The building where I work has a view of the Eiffel Tower, so one year I watched the fireworks from there -- that was nice. Montmartre might be another good place from which to watch the fireworks.

The Bals des Pompiers are dances in the fire stations throughout the city. At some of them, they basically turn the fire station into a night club. Others are more like guinguettes, with low-key traditional music geared toward couples dancing. You have to do a little research to find one that has the vibe you want.
posted by ngc4486 at 3:50 PM on June 28, 2014


Bah c'est quand même pour commémorer la prise de la Bastille, alors permettez-moi d'être un peu étonnée qu'il y ait pas qqchose à la Bastille :)

Parisian coworkers have all told me that it's utter chaos in the streets. As in dangerously so.

Unless someone knows a tranquil spot?

Might be a better idea to have a drink this weekend (Saturday 5th or Sunday 6th) between MeFites rather than around the 14th? Or the weekend afterwards (Sat 19th - Sun 20th).
posted by fraula at 10:28 AM on June 30, 2014


If you want something more tranquil I'm happy to host? I live in the 15th with a great view of the Eiffel Tower as I'm on the 8th floor, have watched fireworks from here before.
posted by ellieBOA at 12:53 PM on June 30, 2014 [1 favorite]


The view.
posted by ellieBOA at 1:09 PM on June 30, 2014


Oh cool, that's wonderful :) I've updated the event to reflect it – will just put 15th arrondissement as the address here (won't post your home!). What time would be good for you?

At Paris Etudiant they say the fireworks start pretty late: Horaire du feu d'artifice du 14 juillet : A partir de 23h00 jusqu'à 23h35.
posted by fraula at 9:29 AM on July 1, 2014


They do start late, shall we say 22h chez moi? You can make the address Volontaires metro as that's my nearest.
posted by ellieBOA at 9:43 AM on July 1, 2014


Thanks! Will MeMail you my 06.
posted by fraula at 10:44 AM on July 2, 2014


Bien-sûr, c'était la prise de la Bastille, et j'étais moi-même étonné qu'il n'y a rien là quand je suis allé l'année dernière. Maybe I was at the wrong place or the wrong time.
posted by ngc4486 at 5:10 PM on July 6, 2014


Yeah, apparently there's really nothing, even more French colleagues assured me today. I was shown a diagram of the parade (going to be a big one this year), a badly-drawn column at one end and the Arc de Triomphe at the other, at which I exclaimed: "Ah! So there IS something at the Bastille!" My French colleagues went, "ah, erm, huh, I never thought of that... it was the storming of the Bastille, wasn't it? Hm... nah, there's nothing at the Bastille." Turns out the column was the obelisk at Place de la Concorde.

Anyhoo, the parade first starts at 10:20am from Concorde and goes to the Arc de Triomphe along the Champs-Elysées, then there's a second round at 11:15. As this year is the 100th anniversary of the start of WWI, it's going to be a bigger parade than usual. Really looking forward to the fireworks show as well!
posted by fraula at 11:03 AM on July 11, 2014


To me it's seemed mostly fireworks! I've got plans in the day but looking forward to the evening, come on paris mefites, surely there's more than me and Fraula!
posted by ellieBOA at 2:22 PM on July 11, 2014


Yeah, I just popped in hoping more people had joined too – maybe once the World Cup final is over?? :)

Allez les MeFites sur Paris !
posted by fraula at 12:33 PM on July 13, 2014


I was really looking forward to this – unfortunately, two days of vertigo and the occasional syncope have turned into three, despite rest. Sorry I won't be able to make it!

We should maybe think about a MeFi meetup later? I know a good Japanese restaurant across from the Comédie Française that's very reasonable (you can eat your fill for 10 euros) and accepts large groups. They have all sorts of different food, should be OK for various diets: Higuma. Up for other suggestions too, as I still don't know the city very well yet!

Bon 14 juillet !!
posted by fraula at 12:44 AM on July 14, 2014


Heard from ellieBOA too – am cancelling this meetup. A plus tard peut-être bien !
posted by fraula at 5:34 AM on July 14, 2014



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