Bastille Day is about democracy, freedom and the founding of modern France. The nationwide parties mark the storming of the Bastille prison on the 14th July 1789, which played a key part in the French Revolution and contributed so much to the formation of the national identity. The day has been a national holiday since 1880 and is synonymous with the battle against feudalism, the overthrow of the absolute power of the decadent Louis XVI and the French break from monarchy to embrace liberalism.
If you are set to take your pupils to Paris, why not mix in some of these key revolutionary locations?
1.The Ruins of the Bastille Prison
On the Boulevard Henri IV you can spy in the foliage the last remaining blocks of the Bastille prison, which was dismantled by Parisians over two centuries ago. The Liberte Tower remains were uncovered when work began on the modern Paris metro and some stones were reused symbolically in the Pont de la Concorde bridge over the Seine.
2.The Palace of Versaille
On the 17th June 1789 the Third Estate, which had begun to call itself the National Assembly found the doors of the chamber from which government was performed locked and guarded by soldiers. French government was divided at the time into states and the lowest, the Third Estate, had been agitating over representation. Fearing Louis XVI intended to attack them they congregated on a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles in the district of Saint Louis. Here the famous Tennis Court Oath was taken; 'not to separate, and to reassemble wherever circumstances require, until the constitution of the kingdom is established.' This would prove a key point on the road to democracy.
In October 1789 the Palace of Versaille, the ultimate symbol of monarchical excess, was besieged by marketplace women enraged by the price of bread. Armed with looted weapons from the city armoury, the violent demonstration forced the King to return to Paris, with his assembly, ending his independence as the power moved to the common people.
3.Hôtel de Ville
It was here that the bizarre circumstance around the arrest of the revolutions most well know figure Maximillien Robespierre unfolded in 1794. The Convention ordered the arrest of Robespierre and declared him an outlaw on the 27th July, meaning he could be executed within 24 hours of capture without trial. When troops attempted his arrest Robespierre tried to kill himself with a pistol, but only succeeded in blowing off his jaw. Symbolically the voice of Revolutionary France had been silenced by his own hand.
4.Place de la Concorde (Place la Révolution) (Revolution Square)
At the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées sits the largest public square in the capital, the Place de la Concorde. Revolutionaries tore down the royal statues that stood in the former royal square in 1789, renaming it Place la Révolution. On the 21st January 1793 Louis XVI was publicly executed by guillotine on the site, followed by Marie Antoinette and Maximillien Robespierre.
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