To add to Kelly's blog about the Francophilian festivities tomorrow, the Faubourg St. John Merchants Association will also be celebrating Bastille Day tomorrow evening. Head over to the 3100 block of Ponce deLeon (between Liuzza's By the Track and Esplanade Avenue) between 5 and 9 pm for this free event which will include gustatory delights, plenty of French wine, kids' activities, and music by Va Va Voom, which I believe is French for "Yee-haw!!"

Rumor has it that people will be playing Petanque, a French lawn game similar to the Italian bocce ball, where one tries to throw a ball at another ball. The sort of sport one enjoys in the summertime, outdoors, with glass of wine in hand.

I've been thinking about France quite a bit after seeing Michael Moore's film Sicko, which does quite a bit of romanticizing about France, including scenes where he speaks to American ex-pats in Paris who literally gush about their new home. He slathers the romance on pretty thick, with a montage scene of lovers cooing to each other in a French park, but does so to combat some of our recent Francophobia best exemplified by the term "Freedom Fries." (Those silly French, so foolish as to believe that war in Iraq was - gasp - a bad idea!)

One point Moore made about the French, who daily suffer through the afflictions of universal health care, a 35-hour work week and cheap wine, is that the government serves the people because of the storming of the Bastille. With that event, the French people proved that the people are a very powerful force, to be feared and respected by their leaders. To this day, the French are fond of protesting and reminding their elected leaders of who's really in charge.

In that spirit, let's remember that Bastille Day is about revolution, and I can't think of a better place for it than right here in the NO. Not only do we have our French heritage to bolster the revolutionary spirit, but frankly, the city is still in need of revolutionary changes. We've already got a Reign of Terror here in the States, why not supplement it with revolution?

Personally, I think we should go with Anne Lamott's plan for revolution, which proposes more kindness and libraries. You can read her ideas at this link. So if you do come on out to Bayou St. John on Saturday, be sure to leave your cellphones at home and bring some fruit to share!