We are arriving in Paris on July 13, 2005(Eve on Bastille Day) and would like to know what areas to avoid at dinner time as we will be tired and looking for a quiet evening. We will be staying near the Lourve.

The day you need to worry about ( at least in my experience) is the evening of the 14th. Years ago we were staying at the Paris Hilton , near the Eiffel Tower,on that day and after the fireworks( which we watched from the restaurant at the top floor of the hotel) we went out for a walk. There were gangs of young people , mainly guys, basically terrorizing anybody on their way. We decided to return to the hotel since we feared for our physical safety. It was not a fun evening.

YOu do need to worry about crowds on the 13th because two of the largest parties ("bals&quot are held that night in your area. Those are the ones by the mayor of Paris (Grand Bal de la Mairie). Generally, they are on the parvis of the Hotel de Ville and around the place de la Bastille (crowds start gathering very early evening, 7-8). Avoid those areas at all cost if you want a quiet evening on the 13th. Additionally, the bal of the Marais fire station is usually on that night, so that's another area to avoid, but not as much as the mayor's bals (it is near St Paul metro on rue de Sevigne). There are several fire stations that have bals that night (most of them do), so there is about one in every arrondisement). The one in the 1st is at 21 rue du Jour which is near Les Halles.

Just to clarify an earlier post, I'm pretty sure the "terrorizing" referred to is tossing of firecrackers. It's very unnerving and very widespread. We avoid public transportation on the eve of Bastille and the day itself, if we can, and we keep a sharp eye out.

Thank you for the quick response. We are traveling with my older parents so we will stick very close to the hotel on the 13th and on the 14th I booked the Seine Dinner Cruise so we could see the fireworks. On the day of the 14th we will stay away from the Champs... where the parade is. I have looked up some restaurants 2 minutes from the hotel.

Dave,

No, the terrorizing I referred to was not "tossing of firecrackers" . It was gangs of mainly young men surrounding us, not allowing us to move, screaming in our faces what I can only guess were expletives in French and making obscene gestures with their hands. There was no police presence whatsoever in the proximity of the Eiffel Tower where we were.

My parents were on a bus that evening and at a traffic light a horde of people surrounded their bus and started rocking it from side to side. Talk about being unnerved!

We'll be in Paris on Bastille Day as well, and would love to see the fireworks. Is there any place a little farther away and less crowded, where you can still get a decent view?

Beth

We were HOPING to attend a bal, specifically the bal of the Marais fire station, since we will be staying in that area. Is this something that we can 'drop in' on or is it an 'invite-only' affair? Any information would be greatly welcomed.

Last summer for 14 Juillet I parked myself right in the Champ de Mars to watch the fireworks. It was a beautiful night, crowded for sure, but no problems at all.

Later that night (morning) I partied at the Bal in the 6eme, no invitation required.

All of the fire station bals are open to the public, as well as the mayor's. The mayor's bals are quite an event and there is good entertainment, along with the crowds, of course. I think the one at Hotel de Ville may be a little more "traditional". I remember Claude Bolling playing there one year. The fire station bals (bal des sapeurs-pompiers) are often on both the 13th and 14th (from about 7 pm onward).

I found this description of the major events around the Bastille area of the mayor's bal from a couple years ago. I think it gives you an idea.

http://www.paris.fr/fr/actualites/14...13_juillet.asp

Is anyone familiar with the "Incredible Picnic" in the Jardin du Luxembourg? Is this something you can just bring some food and show up at? Is it during the day of the 14th? Sounds like a fun time!

Where did you hear about that picnic? As far as I know, it was solely a one-time millennium event thing and only happened once (7/14/00).

Hi Christina,

I saw this page: http://www.whatsonwhen.com/print/viewevent.asp?id=13089

According to this, it's an annual event. But I couldn't really tell from this whether it was the 13th or the 14th.

Beth

OK, I think I see now. I've seen this exact same write up duplicated in numerous places all over the web, and it does imply that all of these events, including the picnic, are annual events. However, everything I've found other than this points to it being a one time, special event in 2000. So that's probably the case. Too bad, 'cause it did look like fun!

Does anyone know if, in general, there are fun things going on during the day on July 14th, in the parks or elsewhere? We'll be with our 8 year old daughter and would love to find something special and festive to do.

thanks,
Beth

Don't try to watch the parade unless you get some better advice on vantage points than we did. We inquired at a local tourist office if the parade would be something we should try to see and were assured that it would and that viewing should be no problem. However, when we got there (a feat in itself as many of the Metro stations were closed), the crowds were so thick we couldn't see a thing.