As I got off the bus on the way to work this morning I heard the martial strains of the French national anthem being sung. A group of young French pilgrims, in Sydney for this week’s World Youth Day celebrations, seemed to be having a combined prayer breakfast/Bastille Day celebration in one of the city parks. It all looked very jolly.
Ah, mes amis, quel jour de fête!!!
And a lovely bottle of virtual Beaujolais to the first doper who can tell me what Louis XVI had to say about July 14, 1789…
Today’s also my mother’s birthday, and all the while I was growing up my father, a lawyer but also a college history major, would always say to me, “Ellen, Bastille Day approachth!” Which meant he needed help picking out a gift for Mom. 
As for Louis XVI, maybe he’d say, “Happy Birthday Ellen’s Mom!”
Aprés nous, le déluge!
Don’t know any actual French? No problem!
Geddy Lee guitar solo
Happy Batille Day Everyone!
I downloaded a performance of the Marseillaise a while back, with alternating soloists and chorus, and in the refrain sometimes they sing “Marshone” (rough phonetic rendering) and sometimes “Marshane”. Which is it supposed to be?
“Today, nothing”. Although some people seem to dispute that “rien” in this context means nothing. Not knowing French, I’m not in a position to comment, but it seems weird that such a common word would be ambiguous.
I believe that he also said, at least once, “It’s good to be the king.”
Certainly, and one I learned at school.
… le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Marchons, marchons!
Let’s march, let’s march!
ETA: I should have known there was a Wiki entry for everything.
*
Why are there trees on the Champs-Elysées?
To provide shade for the marching German soldiers.
runs
God help me, but I snickered at that.
But what about the pronunciation? Is it “marshane” or “marshone”?
There was a block party in Harvard Square yesterday and they were flying the tricolor!
It’s “Marchez” (mahr-shay), the second person imperative, making it a command. “March!”
“Marchons” is the first person imperative, approximately “Let us march!” or “Let’s march!”.
I can’t see any other interpretation.
Actually, I’m unhappy with Bastille Day. Sarkozy invited quite a lot of foreign heads of state and governments, and amongst them the Syrian and Egyptian presidents, something I find particularly inappropriate on a day supposed to celebrate the fight against tyranny. I even find it insulting for all those people who, during the last two centuries, died for freedom.
I’m mightily pissed off :mad: :mad: :mad:
Perhaps you can drench your furrows with their tainted blood! 
FWIW, CBC radio here has noted your above displeasure, and is reporting on it as part of its coverage of the “Mediterranean Summit”
-trupa, randomly bellowing “FormEEZZ vos Bataillons!” today.
PS.: Félicitation à tous les Français!
Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding! A Winner! and a fine bottle of DOMAINE DE CHAMP DE COUR MOULIN-À-VENT 2005 will appear in your USB port sometime in the next 24 hours!
This comment (in his diary) was for years cited as an example of Louis XVI’s profound ignorance of the reality of the situation. It is now thought that he was probably referring to his lack of success in hunting that day, and that he may have been insulated from the news while his ministers tried to come up with a way to cover their asses, something that has never happened since in any political situation.
“Les hommes naissent en demeurent libres et égaux en droits…”
I hope everyone had a nice celebration and nobody lost their head over it…
clairobscur, I’m with y’all on Sarko’s guest list. Sure, the Nation sometimes has to deal with dubious characters, but at least let’s keep appearances on this date.
I too have heard it in performance with “marchez” alternated with “marchons”, (video) ; and had wondered if that was just an artifact of combining the language with the vocal stylings of the singer, but no, it does seem like they are indeed alternating, even though de Lisle’s lyrics only say “marchons” (The linked performance uses both the first and sixth verse, with the latter repeated by the choir).
And as for Cunctator’s OP that’s a nice scene with the youth pilgrims