FUN WITH MAPS ISSUE 2026-121

By Steve Kovacs (Introduction by Chuck Gibson)

LOVELAND, OH (July 14, 2026) – This edition of Fun with Maps honors the biggest French holiday.  

LONG LIVE THE NATION

July 14 is the French National Day, commonly known as Bastille Day. It is France’s major national holiday, celebrating both the 1789 storming of the Bastille during the French Revolution and the Fête de la Fédération, which marked the unity of the French nation one year later.

A highlight of the celebration in the military parade down the Champs-Elysees in Paris from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. It is considered to be the oldest and largest military parade in Europe. 

The holiday was officially adopted as THE national holiday in 1880, winning out over August 4th (the end of the feudal system, 1789), May 5 (when the Estates-General first met, 1789), July 27 (the fall of Robespierre, 1794) and January 21 (King Louis XVI’s execution date, 1793).

This is a 1902 folding map of Paris.  The Champs-Elysees is busy this month with the last leg of the Tour de France also finishing on this famed street in a couple weeks.

Steve Kovacs and his wife Theresa reside in Loveland, Ohio where they raised their two children. He is a passionate collector of antique maps. Visit his antique map boutique world-on-paper online. Watch for his daily feature Fun with Maps here on Loveland Beacon.