Celebrate Freedom With the Inventors of Freedom Fries

Today is Bastille Day, marking the day in 1789 when French people stormed a prison known for arbitrary imprisonment on the king's orders, to show their support for the creation of a constitutional, rather than absolute, monarchy. (Trading in one sort of monarchy for another seems like a half measure these days, but it was rather something at the time.) Shortly thereafter, in August, the new French government would proclaim the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which boldly stated that all men were born free and with a right to resist oppression, except, you know, Haitians and Africans.

All cheap shots aside (our Declaration of Independence certainly wasn't as far-reaching in practice as in rhetoric, after all), the French Revolution was a big deal, and it is the cause for significant celebration here in Boston (our state's population of people of French descent is apparently the third-largest in the country). Being lazy, Bostonist will probably just hum the Marseillaise and try for a few minutes to make sense of Parisist. Readers with more joie de vivre, however, are advised to go out and live it up:

Thursday A couple fancy French restaurants have fancy prix-fixe Bastille Day dinners, which are not cheap but are, well, very French. Bostonist has had nothing but good experiences with Sel de la Terre (on State Street, near the aquarium), and recommends it heartily (if you're in the mood to drop $40 a head to celebrate the important historical dates of foreign nations). Brasserie Jo (on Huntington Ave., inside the Colonnade Hotel) apparently also has something special going on, and may be a bit less spendy.

Friday The big event in these parts goes down a day late, as the French Library puts on its annual Bastille Day street party. Marlborough Street gets closed to traffic (including cars and pedestrians without tickets) from Clarendon to Berkeley, and for a mere $25 in advance or $30 at the gate, you get four hours of live music and revelry. In the universalist spirit of the Declaration of the Rights of Man, none of the performers are actually French, but all of them are from French-speaking (or French-ish-speaking) countries. Bostonist won't pretend to tell you about Papa Wemba, Emeline Michel, or Daby Toure, as our knowledge of modern francophone music begins and ends with an awesome record we once found in a garbage can with a song called "Les Hommes de Brooklyn." But the internet tells us that they are hot stuff. Local french restaurants will also set up booths on Marlborough, and wine will most definitely be served.