First Post France 2016—Bastille Day Rain, Snow, Sun, Barcelonnette, Ventoux, and Nice

Yesterday was Bastille Day in France. The Bastille was a fortress-prison in Paris which had often held people jailed on arbitrary royal indictments that could not be appealed and did not indicate the reason for the imprisonment. The Bastille was known for holding political prisoners whose writings had displeased the royal government, and was thus a symbol of the absolutism of the monarchy. The Bastille was stormed by angry citizens and mutinous Gardes Françaises (French Guards) on July 14, 1789, marking an important point in the French Revolution.

Bastille Day is equivalent to the American Independence Day and is celebrated with similarly.  The official name of the holiday is La fête nationale, but most French refer to the day as Le quatorze juillet. No self-respecting citizen of France would refer to this national holiday as Bastille Day.

I had intended to write about the rain in Albertville and the snow around Barcelonnette last night as well as Barcelonnette itself.  And then there was the mess on Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France yesterday, but these are items for the next post.  None of this was very important when compared to the tragedy in Nice last night.

France suffered its third terrorist attack in 19 months last night in nice when a truck drive 1.1 miles through a crowd of spectators who were watching the July 14 fireworks in Nice.  The death toll currently stands at 84 and is expected to grow.  The suspect was eventually killed by police, but the details of who and why are still emerging.  This is such a tragedy, and I cannot understand why any human being would commit such an act.  And I am at a loss for a remedy.