As usual, after the rash of public holidays in May, July has only 2.

Le 14 juillet :

The French National Day is the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789.  The country celebrates with fireworks, concerts, street festivals, music and dancing. In Paris there is a military parade down the Champs-Elysées.

Have a listen to Janine Marsh’s the Good Life Podcast all about the 14 juillet
In this podcast, she explores the history of this famous day and uncovers fun facts. For instance – the DNA of the beheaded king was discovered in a dried pumpkin (yup, really) 200  years after the French Revolution. How Marie-Antoinette loved the tune to the Marseillaise, even though the words called for her demise. And how the wife of a ship’s captain from Maine, USA almost had the royal family as house guests… The history, the legends and the weird and wonderful snippets uncovered…

Le 15 août : L’Assomption.

Assumption Day is the day in Roman Catholic tradition when Mary, mother of Jesus Christ, was taken bodily up into heaven. Normally thousands of pilgrims travel to Lourdes.

Tous les jours :

Every day is Wordle Day – not yet officially a World Day and not a Public Holiday but one day …. You can try it in French on https://wordlegame.org/fr

Les vacances d’été :

July and August are the summer holiday months.   There are two tribes – the juilletistes and the aoûtiens.  In the 1960s, the August holidaymakers were largely working class as this was the month factories closed across France. July on the other hand was reserved for executives and professionals. The idea of the ‘well-to-do’ July clan was contrasted with the ‘working class’ August clan. The clichés grew into deep cultural stereotypes. The juilletistes were seen as lazy people who escaped to an exotic place while everyone else was still working hard, only to return to work in August when things were still calm. (Of course a juilletiste would say someone needed to keep the country running while the workers went away on holiday.) This rivalry is no longer accurate and a new clan, the septembristes is emerging. The septembriste who waits until September is mostly made up by the young, the childfree and the elderly.

Whether you are juilletiste, aoûtien or septembriste , it’s going to be hot.  The Red Alert days began in June, with temperatures reaching the early 40s.  « Une canicule » is a heat wave, and  « une canicule n’est pas un canular » (A heat wave is no joke).

And in the Francophone World, Belgium celebrates its national day on 21^st July, although the French community in the same country wait until 27^th September. Switzerland celebrates its nationhood on August 1st.

Le Tour de France :

If you want to know absolutely everything about the Tour de France, why the winner wears a yellow jersey, for example, then watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7wPa1Hl5ZA