The 14th of July is La Fete National for France, also known as Bastille Day, or, simply, La Quatorze Juillet, the 14th of July. Like our own national holiday, they celebrate with fireworks. "You must go to see the fireworks in Cannes," our landlady said. "They're really something." Having just seen incredible fireworks with Katherine and Mark and the girls in Washington, DC, I smiled politely.
But we decided to head to Cannes, and being Cannes, it wasn't enough to have an ordinary fireworks display to commemorate the day. The City of Festivals, it turns out, hosts an annual International Festival d'Art Pyrotechnique, and on the evening of the 14th, they were showcasing the prize-winning display by the Austrian team, Pyrovision. We settled in at a restaurant along the Bay of Cannes that opens up to the sea and joined the throngs gathered to see the show. As the sky became suitably dark, loudspeakers blared the French National Anthem and we stood with the crowd as they sang along. (They also played the Austrian National Anthem in honor of Pyrovision.) It was a spectacular spectacle of music and lights and lasers and color all to the theme of Voyage dans l'Ouest Sauvage -- yes, that would be the U.S. of A!
The show ended with Green Day's 21 Guns, and in the words highlighted by the fireworks designers:
"Wild wild west" se termine par une interprétation haute en couleur du titre du groupe de rock Green Day "21 Guns" (2009), point culminant de cette envolée sauvage.
"... Baisse les bras
Renonce au combat...
Lève les bras au ciel,
Toi et moi..."
(Greenday)
Lay down your arms
Give up the fight
One, 21 Guns
Throw up your arms into the sky
You and I ...
As Madame Moufflet said, it was really something.
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