Message #73705

[officepa]

Why strange Gee? As I said in my original posting, a colleague in the office is French so she would celebrate this if she was at 'home' (it is a bank holiday in France) so we do this for her today here.  She joins in with our celebrations of St George's Day, and any other days we choose to commerate. Just a bit of 'all pulling together' and having a bit of fun during a busy period at work.

Bastille History
At one time in France, kings and queens ruled. Many people were very angry with the decisions made by the kings and queens.

The Bastille was a prison in France that the kings and queens often used to lock up the people that did not agree with their decisions. To many, it was a symbol of all the bad things done by the kings and queens. So, on July 14, 1789, a large number of French citizens gathered together and stormed the Bastille.

Just as the people in the United States celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence as the beginning of the American Revolution, so the people in France celebrate the storming of the Bastille as the beginning of the French Revolution. Both Revolutions brought great changes. Kings and queens no longer rule. The people rule themselves and make their own decisions.