FRANCE TERROR ATTACK: Bastille Day in Nice compared to 4th of July in Newport
By Alana Cerrone
@Alana_Cerrone
Pot au Feu owner Bob Burke is engulfed in the French community, having owned the downtown Providence restaurant for decades.
He said Bastille Day is to the French what the 4th of July is to Americans, and Nice to France what Newport is to us Rhode Islanders.
"We celebrate it the way they French do with wine and song and music…"
Bob Burke describes Thursday’s local celebrations for France’s national holiday, Bastille Day.
"It’s French Independence Day…it’s their 4th of July."
In France, fireworks and military parades commemorate July 14 1789 – the first moments of the French Revolution in Paris when angry Parisians stormed the the Bastille prison – the date later celebrating France’s newfound unity.
"It’s the sense of French independence…their saying is liberté, égalité, fraternité…liberty equality brotherhood. They stick together."
But Burke says what makes Bastille Day so special is also what made it a perfect target for a deadly attack.
"If you can attack people on those days…when we have the greatest sense of security and happiness out on a beautiful day…you take them from the heights all the way to the depths."
Tragedy struck Nice on not only a national holiday but also the day French President Francois Holland announced the state of emergency following attacks in Paris last November would be lifted by the end of the month.
Then, hours later… having to extend it another three months.
Burke says the French people still will not back down.
"If you come after us we are never going to roll over…that’s something that’s in the French character."
© WLNE-TV 2016
