The French National Day is commonly known as “Bastille Day”.

If you did not pay attention during your History classes, you might think that “Bastille” is another of those delicious French pastries, or maybe some sort of fancy fashion accessory.

If you were more hard-working at school, then you know that it refers to the French Revolution of 1789, and that “la Bastille” was actually a state prison. But you might not know that the date of the National French Day was not picked after this event (or at least not only after this one).

Your French friends probably don’t know it either. So if you want to impress them, let me tell you the real story.

This podcast is designed for intermediate French learners who want to get a better grasp of the language by listening to interesting topics.

You can find the transcript of this episode here: https://innerfrench.com/e12/