Bastille Day in France

We spent the day in Paris in 2006 and it was fun. If you like a BIG picnic on the Champ de Mars and fireworks, you'll enjoy yourself. The crowd was immense, but well behaved.

Thanks Eric ! Any suggestions for Things to do that day?

If you stay in Paris - there will be a 2-3 hour full military parade down the Champs Elysees to Place de Concorde including tanks, planes etc. in the morning.

Last year was a day long music festival on the Champs de Mars followed by a 45 minute firework display at dusk.

Just remember that July 14th is on a Monday, so the whole weekend will be a major holiday. If you plan to see major sites in Paris during that time, you will be seeing them with thousands of your closest friends. I'd vote for the countryside, but you should get a vote from the pre-teens....they won't care about the crowds.

Thanks Janis, I did run the idea by my girls and (as usual) one said the city and one said the country :(
Maybe if I let them know that the city will be crowded our entire visit (July 10-14) they may opt for the country. Do you know if regular services are closed, because it's a holiday? (banks etc)

Others may be able to tell you about the banks. On May 1 (big natl holiday), the museums and a lot of the restaurants were closed (some for the long weekend). You can check the museum websites to see if the museums are closed on Bastille Day.