Bastille Day and Other Events

Happy Bastille Day to my friends in France (and anyone else who loves the culture and La Marseillaise). I remember Bastille Day with great fondness from one special year of my childhood. As I grew up, my parents and I spent our summers in Aspen, attending concerts at the Aspen Music Festival and living in that wonderful valley surrounded by my favorite mountains. The Music Festival was (and still is) world-renowned and celebrated and they invited a variety of artists to be artists in residence at the Festival. This particular year they invited a composer, Darius Milhaud, to be the artist in residence. I wasn't fond of his compositions, although I have come to enjoy them as I grew older, but at that time I was a Beethoven addict and nothing lived up to the high mountain of Ludwig Van.

Celebrate!

But to return to the story...that year, instead of celebrating the Fourth of July in Aspen, the town gathered together and celebrated a bit later. What they celebrated was Bastille Day instead. I remember sidewalk sales, bunting (of course) in the same colors as the USA, but with a French flair. Le Marseillaise playing from speakers. Lots of fireworks, great food, and a general celebration that was every bit as exciting as July 4th, but with that special flair. I still find myself smiling when I remember that one Bastille Day celebration. I hope that Milhaud enjoyed it as much as all of us did.

Gustav Klimt's "Danae" is super erotic and oh so gorgeous!

Today is also the 150th birthday of Gustav Klimt, the day that Billy the Kid was shot by Sheriff Pat Garrett at Fort Sumner, New Mexico, and the birthday of Woodie Guthrie and Ingmar Bergman. What a stellar day. So celebrate Bastille Day in your own fashion today. Eat a delectable pastry, wave a French flag, watch Le Tour de France, or say "mon ami". Act happy, act silly. Why not? It's a nation's birthday!