We are celebrating...........

[officepa]

..... Bastille Day on Wednesday 14th July!!

Bastille Day is a National holiday in France. It is very much like Independence Day in the United States because it is a celebration of the beginning of a new form of government.

We are all bringing in food connected to France which we will nibble during the day. 

Colleague in office is French but any excuse to eat will do us    

[Cathy S]

Oooh La La!

Enjoy yourselves

Cathy

[Katie G]

That sounds like fun!  My knowledge of French food is non-existant (beyond croissants and baguettes!).  What are you going to be bringing?

[officepa]

Mmmm, well, if I don't eat them before I get to work in the morning, I am bringing mini croissants and also French Fancies for the afternoon (not quite sure how French they are apart from their name  )

Some other foods include various French cheeses, baquettes, pastries, sausages (German??, oh well, never mind).  We were trying to sneek in some French wine but not allowed.

Others have not said what they are bringing in so it will be a nice surprise. 

Days like this do the office good.  Yes, we are busy but it brings us all together in the planning so good for team morale.  Not a big sit down do but just pick something up as you pass by type of thing. 

[gee4]

Oooh strange.  I've heard of celebrating your own National holiday but never that of another country.

We used to have those kinds of celebrations at school, in our French class, just so our teacher could give us a taste of something we had never had before.

So what is Bastille Day all about then?  My company is French owned but not sure employees would do for that! 

[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.

[gee4]

Because I posted recently asking if anyone thought St George's Day or St Andrew's Day, St Patrick's Day or St David's Day should be a national holiday...curious that's all. 

http://www.deskdemon.com/dnet/index.php?topic=10330.0

I thought it was a company wide thing, not just for a colleague.  Must the same as is celebrated in NI this week too then.  We are all steeped in history.