Bastille Day Planner 2009: Vive le 14 Juillet!
Updated: July 08, 2009
Revel in the wine, music and accent-agued hijinks of France's independence day without packing your bags for Europe (though if you want to rakishly don a beret, we certainly won't stop you). Boston's numerous Bastille Day blowouts, conveniently distributed throughout the week, will have you murmuring ooh-la-las between bites of crêpes and sips of Champagne. N'est-ce pas fantastique, mes chéries?
(Photo: Courtesy of the Harvard Square Business Association)
I See France
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Beehive Restaurant
Read Reviews541 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116 (map)
[TUE July 14, 5pm-2am, $10-$25, menu à la carte, cash bar] If the name of musician "Serge Gainsbourg" resonates with you, the Beehive's Second Annual Bastille Day Celebration should be a can't-miss party. The "Gainsbourg Etcetera," a musical collaboration of Gainsbourg’s family and former musicians, present their North American premiere. Other guests include the elegant electro-pop strains of French artist ElodieO and DJ Christopher Muther spinning Gainsbourg remixes. No better to pair the evening with a bottle plucked off the most extensive champagne list in New England.
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Franklin Park Zoo
Read Reviews1 Franklin Park Rd, Dorchester, MA 02121 (map)
[SUN, July 12, 1:30pm, free] What could channel more French élan than a couple of donkeys? Ahem. The zoo welcomes its two newest inhabitants, a pair of shaggy, rare-breed donkeys from the French region of Poitou. The "baudets"--named Samuel and Balthazar--are of the oldest breed of donkey in France and make the transatlantic move with great aplomb, engendering a special celebration on Sunday with John Linehan, the president/CEO of Zoo New England, and François Gauthier, the Consul General of France in Boston. Additionally, on Bastille Day, July 14, the zoo offers free admission to anyone who presents an item featuring the French flag and says “Vive La France!” at the entry booth. Fant-ass-tic.
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Liberty Hotel
Read Reviews215 Charles St, Boston, MA 02114 (map)
[TUE, July 14, 9pm-2am, free, cash bar] Ready to liberate your Francophilic inclinations? The French Library Alliance Française of Boston throws its official Bastille Day bash on the very date of independence itself. Fuel up with special French menus at restaurants CLINK or Scampo (just try to resist a "gâteau de foies de volaille"), and all night a French DJ will keep guests fêting through all three levels of the dramatic hotel foyer.
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Miel "Brasserie Provencale"
Read Reviews510 Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110 (map)
[SAT, July 11, 5pm-10pm, free, menu à la carte, cash bar] We assume anything that involves European ball-throwing a festive shoo-in. Miel's Pétanque Bastille Day Party busts out the traditional French game "boules de pétanque" (similar to bocce) for all to play, and the winner snags a night and breakfast at the Intercontinental Hotel. Swinging not your thing? The hand-eye-coordination challenged can happily spectate with a spread of crêpes, baguette sandwiches and St. James cocktails made with rum from the French Caribbean island of Martinique.
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Museum Of Fine Arts Boston
Read Reviews465 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA 02115 (map)
[THU, July 9 - SUN, July 26, $10-$20] Don't fight it: Subtitles can be a huge turn-on. Take a refreshing dip in a gorgeous cultural cinema series at the 14th Annual Boston French Film Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, with 20 Boston premieres of films produced in France. The diverse festival opens with "The First Day of the Rest of Your Life" by Remi Bezançon and closes with "Séraphine" by Martin Provost.
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Sandrine's Bistro
Read Reviews8 Holyoke St, Cambridge, MA 02138 (map)
[SUN, JULY 12, 3pm-10pm, free, menu à la carte, cash bar] Distinctively the region's largest Bastille Day celebration, the Harvard Square festivities include a day-to-night block party (an invitation to shake les bonbons!), plus French food, a beer garden and family-friendly activities. Sandrine’s Bistro, the culinary and cultural co-host for the day, anchors the crowd of thousands--and if you're never seen the traditional footrace of French waiters, flock over around 5pm to witness some seriously speedy, tray-balancing kerfuffles.
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