C'est Bastille Day aujourd hui! Frogs and Francophiles were out in force on Smith Street in Brooklyn yesterday for the Bastille Day celebration, which featured big band music by Baby Blue Orchids, plenty of French food, French cigarettes and heated games of Petanque, played on sand dumped out for the occasion. McBrooklyn reports that "actual French people were everywhere, smoking cigarettes and speaking actual French." If you missed out on all that, there's still time......

Tomorrow is the actual Bastille Day, but a number of establishments are celebrating today. In Brooklyn, there's food and petanque tournaments at the Pit Stop and Bar Tabac (there's also a street fair on Smith Street). In Manhattan, there's the big Bastille Day street fete, on East 60th between Fifth and Lexington Avenue, which features entertainment, dancing, food and, yes, petanque. Here are some more Bastille Day Eve options.......

How do you get rid of an unwanted fire truck? Simple, put it on Craigslist! That is exactly what the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation (GIPEC) did with an unused 1993 Pierce aerial platform truck they inherited from the Coast Guard when the city-state agency took control over Governors Island in 2003. They got over $75,000 from the East Prospect Fire Company in York County, Pennsylvania near Lancaster. That is a pretty good deal......

Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a shooting on West 24th St. and 7th Ave. in Manhattan, another shooting on Rockwell Place and Dekalb Ave. in Brooklyn, and yet another shooting at 92 -35 215th Place in Queens. Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James' female acquaintance made an amazing amount of money by buying properties from the city and then flipping them for huge profits. Phone records reveal that an upstate teenage driver may have been......

It's July 14, which means it's time to appreciate the je ne sais quoi of all things French as you celebrate Bastille Day. Eating frites is one way, but there are many other events and activities today and tomorrow. Today there's the Waiter's Race at Les Halles (and they have specials), there's music, can-can dancers and French food on sale at Chelsea Market, and tonight's Bastille Ball. Tomorrow has the big Bastille Day on 60th......

EVENT: If you haven't taken a trip back to the Summer of Love yet, head over to the Whitney tonight for the exhibit and enjoy their Whitney Live event. DJ Scientific and Dana Leong will be providing the tunes. Friday // 6pm // The Whitney [945 Madison Ave] // Free with museum admission MUSIC: Tonight at the Seaport Music Festival Menomena and Beat the Devil will rock the sun down. Menomena "makes experimental rock that......

July 15: Bastille Day at Bar Tabac If you've never played petanque, head on down to Smith Street for North America's largest petanque tournament -- the two block stretch betweeen Bergen and Pacific will be shut down and covered with sand just for the occasion. While your'e watching the action, enjoy special cocktails from Ricard and other drink specials ($5-6), nibble on grilled merguez and chicken sandwiches ($5) and groove to Jazz band Blue Orchid......

July 11 - 13: Chianina at at Maremma Join Tuscan native Chef Cesare Casella and his team at Maremma as they make special dishes featuring the traditional Tuscan beef -- Chianina (pronounced kee-a-nee-na). Chef Casella raises his herd of Chianina at Thanksgiving Farm in the Catskills regions of upstate New York. 228 West 10th Street, 212.645.0200. July 13: A Celebration of Simple Pleasures This panel discussion features Ruth Reichl, Anne Patchett, Jane and Michael Stern,......

July 14: Bastille Day at Paris Commune Celebrate Bastille Day, with a prixe fixe menu ($29.95) that includes choices like filet mignon with duck mousse, and salad nicoise. The cost of dinner covers an additional course for dessert: a ride along the Hudson River in a rickshaw-styled Petite Cab courtesy of Bicyclette Wines after dinner. 99 Bank Street, 212-929-0509. July 16, 17, 23, 24: Blue Crab Festival Join the gang at Bar Minnow from 11......

Just in time for Bastille Day, we're happy/heureux to announce that Parisist has launched. Whether thinking about hallmarks of filming in Paris, traveling out to music festivals, or wondering about their failed Olympics bid (just like us!), Parisist is doing it all in French! We are sure editors Dominique and Chryde and their team will make us proud, even as we're struggling through our high school French to read the site. Bienvenue, tout le monde!......

July 3-4: Prix Fixe Menue at Barmarché They'll be donating a portion of the proceeds to City Harvest. Gotta love doing good while you eat. 14 Spring Street (at Elizabeth), call 212-219-2399 for reservations and more information. July 4: Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog-Eating Contest Check out what is "believed to be the 90th installment" of this Fourth of July favorite at Coney Island watch four-time world champion Takeru Kobayashi of Japan......

This Bastille Day we suggest you check out the Loser's Lounge tribute to that deceased French crooner Serge Gainsbourg. A traditional Loser's send up includes a medley of guest vocalists accompanying Joe McGinty and his band on the theme of the moment, tonight, Friday and Saturday, the spotlight is on Gainsbourg. An enormous influence on French music, Gainsbourg is known for such classics as "Je t'aime...moi non plus" and the duet he did with......

C'est Bastille Day! We may not be in France, but it doesn't mean NYC can't find another excuse to celebrate. There are Bastille Festivities festivities happening downtown, from 12PM-9PM. The details from StarChefs are precious:...featuring music, entertainment such as Cancan dancers, portraiture, historic characters, Lady Liberty, a live DJ, the famous Bastille Races' and of course, food. Festival goers line the racecourse to cheer on the contestants, and enjoy the often-hilarious antics of these unique......

Today is Bastille Day, but, considering the differing opinions of the US and France regarding Iraq, the festivities in NY seemed tame. The Times wondered where the French were and one middle-aged French woman said, "I think there's so many French people in New York that most of them are probably somewhere else. Maybe they're in Brooklyn." The Times also has a feature on authors of books on how to understand the French, such as......