When the angry and hungry people of Paris stormed the Bastille Prison in the heart of Paris in July 1789, they would never have realised, not in their wildest dreams, that many years later, French Embassies around the world would celebrate what came to be known as “Bastille Day” with champagne, caviar, foie gras, canapés, and wine.
Successive French Ambassadors in Sri Lanka similarly followed suit and hosted receptions either at the Résidence de France at Alfred Place or at a five-star hotel in Colombo.
During those days, the Bonsoir team was always at hand to record the Bastille Day (French National Day) soirée in Colombo, intersperse it with footage of celebrations in Paris such as the parade on the Champs Elysées and “le Garden Party” at the Elysée Palace, and share it with our thousands of viewers.
It was also hugely amusing to watch Colombo’s “glitterati” and “haute société” very self-consciously walk past the Bonsoir cameras on their way to being greeted by the incumbent Ambassador. We did capture them all, but not all of them made it to the little screen due to obvious time constraints. Then followed the discreet and not-so-discreet calls to the Bonsoir studio asking what had happened.
Experience taught us to have a ready answer. We concocted one, very apologetically, blaming it on “tape damage”. This was very convenient, credible, and gave us easy blanket cover. I just revealed a once-upon-a-time’s top secret!
Once at a French National Day (Bastille Day) soirée at the former Trans Asia Hotel, I was appalled when a group of Sri Lankan guests continued eating right through the Namo Namo Matha but immediately stood to attention when the Marseillaise filled the ballroom.
Bastille Day
The stewards patter silently.
Le piano sings sweetly.
And o la la they’re all there!
White skins patronising the Browns
and Brown skins pandering to the Whites.
Diplomacy at chic-est best !
Blabbering polite niceties
we devour smoked salmon
with camembert-coated teeth
and burp unashamedly (oui excusez-moi)
flushing it down with champagne
…and the party goes on…
The strains of Namo Namo Matha
waft in to the ballroom
but we Sri Lankans are still busy
eating and drinking
(No wining and dining – c’est plus élégant)
but drop our forks for the Marseillaise
PS: There’s a war up North
But who cares for an Anthem anyway?
(14 July 1995)
My most memorable Bastille Day was the one of 1989 – when France and the entire Francophone world went into a gigantic celebration over the bicentennial of the French Revolution.
Bonsoir also got very, very creative and did a shoot of The Storming of the Boulangerie. Why a bakery? Don’t ask me why! We had students of the Alliance Française dress up in period costume as the angry and hungry people of Paris. Among them were a few REAL French men and women who added credibility to the scene.
The Police helped us stop the traffic and there they were marching down some road in Mutwal in the hot noon day sun, pitchforks in hand, towards a spanking new and freshly launched boulangerie, and shouting “Du pain!… du pain!…” (We want bread ! We want bread”).
Florence Mattei, a buxom Frenchwoman, she was luscious too, looked and played the role of the boulanger’s wife to perfection. “If they don’t have bread, let them eat cake” (Qu’ils mangent de la brioche), she screamed at the mob in one take….the now-famous lines commonly mis-attributed to poor Marie-Antoinette.
The “mob” went livid as planned. They pushed open the doors (yes they remembered to be careful with the glass doors), and pounced on the trays of food and began gourmandising, as pre-planned again.
They didn’t eat…they walloped the food!!! There was chocolate icing up their noses, sweat pouring down their faces, whipped cream in their ears, French pastries stuck in their mouths as fresh cake matted their hair. Baguettes and croissants flew in the air, colliding with brioches and vol-au-vents in a gastronomic fantasy.
It was all hell let loose. In all creative sincerity, Chintha got some really fabulous close-ups which went into the reportage. Yes, Chintha had an eye for great detail and successfully captured it all.
The next Monday night on ITN, Bonsoir proudly screened its French Bicentennial Special with “The Storming of the Boulangerie” in Sri Lanka. We were happy with our production.
The following morning the brickbats came pouring in via telephone calls. Letters to the Editor followed in the newspapers during the ensuing days. Bonsoir was reprimanded for being “indiscreet and insensitive” by showing premeditated, unadulterated, and gross gluttony on screen. So much for our creativity, that we never dared recreate French history on Bonsoir ever again…well not to that extent!
