Bastille Day, S'il Vous Plait

Today is Bastille Day (Le quatorze juillet), celebrated in France and elsewhere around the world, on the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison that effectively started the French Revolution. It is the French equivalent of the American Fourth of July, ultimately breaking down the 'divine right / l'etat, c'est moi' of a king or queen's rule and establishing parliaments and a modicum of democracy.

Of course, the "Reign of Terror" (using the newly-invented guillotine) that soon followed wasn't so nice, to say the least.... As the course of history has shown, bloodbaths often follow dramatic reformation as polarized groups vie to fill the political vaccuum (often paired with a religious "justification" / cop-out). The situation is not entirely unlike the one that former President G.W. Bush's "Coalition of the Willing" introduced upon Iraq.

Having taken four years of French in high school, and drawing half of my lineage from France (firstly filtered through Canada), you'd think I might know exactly what manner of celebration to hold. You'd think that, but you'd be wrong. I still remember how to set a table in the French style. I still retain a good deal of the language even though I would need to do a little dusting in that corner of my brain. I admit, however, that I am much better at written French than my powers of speaking it off the cuff --- but that's true of my English as well.

This Pan Bagnat recipe looks appealing, I have a lot of the ingredients (or suitable substitutes) and it doesn't look like it'll take very much prep time, and a side of some Laughing Cow® French cheese. Add in a "Liberté, égalité, fraternité" ephemera, and I think we're set.