No need to cross the channel for Bastille Day!  London goes Gallic spoiling residents and tourist alike with fantastique ways to celebrate the Blue-Blanc-Rouge.

Parties:
The French Institute’s screening of Jean Renoir’s classic “French CanCan” at the Cine Lumiere is followed by a Cabaret Party for a quintessentially French evening complete with absinthe, DJs and a troupe of CanCan dancers.  Enjoy the movie and party for 12£ or skip the movie and join the dancing for a mere 5£.

Bastille Day at Bankside Mix is a free  Parisian “street party” bringing 40’s style nightclubs and songs to Canvey Street as Montmartre Artists sketch passer-bys and the obligatory French “waiter race” gets underway.

Take it up a few notches, slip in to fancy dress and enjoy a Royal setting for the Kensington Palace Gardens Bastille Day  Ball (30£).

Theatre:
The Royal Opera House will wrap you up in French song with their beautiful musical production of “Cendrillon”.

While The Lion & Unicorn Theatre in Kentish Town host a French version of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night “ La Nuit des Rois” as well as several French and English double-bills including “Lady Mac Wata”, “Ghost Lamp”, “Dear Wallis” &“Excusez Me”

Eat & Drink:

Restaurants celebrating with a special Bastille Day menu include:

• Café Luc in Marylebone,
• Baranis in Chancery Lane,
• Mon Plaisir Britain’s longest standing French restaurant,
• The Refinery near Borough Market (includes a waiter race) and
• The Brickhouse teaming their Bur/Boylesque Gay Paree show with a charity so not only do you enjoy a performance alongside your meal but the money goes to a good cause.

Finally, Vinopolis hosts a Bastille Day French Cheese & Wine Tasting Tour to expand and explore your knowledge of French wines.

Vive La France, a Londres bien sure, et Amusez-vous Bien!