It’s the 14th of July and today there will be celebrations for Bastille Day in my village. A huge fireworks display is de rigeur and to be honest I’m always surprised at the spectacle for somewhere so small.  My old home city in Auckland New Zealand has no fireworks display that rivals this and that’s a city of over 1 million people (or perhaps they do now?). I do remember one New Years Eve a few years ago we were treated to a  decent fireworks display but that was only because Kim Dotcom paid for it.

Bastille Day (known as La Fête National in France) ensures that the French remember the start of their famed French Revolution with the Storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789.  It also celebrates the Fête de la Federation which celebrated the unity of the French people on 14 July 1790. 

To get in the French mood I suggest a baguette for lunch  / dinner with a delicious goat’s cheese. A decent spritz of a French perfume and a tipsy glass of champagne.  And for the wardrobe why not go a little rock n roll with something from Zadig et Voltaire and some  K. Jacques sandals or the much cheaper Les Tropezienne imitations.

However to celebrate the most important day in the annals of French history I’ve compiled a playlist so you can get into the swing of things no matter where in the world you are located.

Here are fifteen tracks starting with some classic French singers including my all time favourite the sublime Serge Gainsbourg. But the majority of the songs are new this year so you can sample contemporary French tunes through indie, electronic a smashing of rock et voilà!