No Quatorze Juillet would be complete without pétanque and Lillet—and that doesn’t just go for France. Here we talk with some of the people attending a Bastille Day celebration in New York City.

Just how did Jean-Marc get the money for that beautiful car and those fancy ski trips? The answer involves a roundabout trek to the open outcry auction market of the French stock exchange (“la Bourse”). So could we say that Wall Street too resembles a “playground for grownups”?

Did you ever think you could drink champagne while kayaking? You can with “Rando Bulles de Champ’ et Canoë” (“Outing, Champagne Bubbles, and Canoeing”), a kayaking service which will take you along the Seine in the Aube department in the region of (where else?) Champagne-Ardenne.

On two summer nights per year, the small town of Nieul-le-Dolant transforms into “Nieul, Village de Lumière” (“Nieul, Village of Light”) and captivates both its residents and its visitors with a dazzling display of illuminated buildings and monuments.

Come discover this feature-length film directed by Serge Papagalli in the Trièves. Humor and affection drive his story, which focuses on the difficulties of peasant life.

Remember Lionel, who warned us about the dangers of the working world, and asked the important questions about French grammatical gender? He’s back with a very important lesson for us about how best to get water out of your ears.

Daniel Benchimol guides us through the Quartier de la Mouzaïa, a quaint Parisian neighborhood filled with brightly-colored houses, patriotic street names, and old signs. You might forget you’re in a major city in the midst of this beautiful country landscape.

Not only does Jean-Marc have a totally sweet ride, he also gets to ski on some of the coolest slopes in France. Lucky guy!

Tarte flambée is a specialty of the Alsace region of France that resembles a pizza. Typically made with crème fraîche, onions, and bacon, the traditional tarte flambée has also undergone many variations. Flam’s, a restaurant franchise based in Strasbourg, has dedicated itself to perfecting this Alsatian delicacy.

The beached ship in Sables d’Olonne is still stuck in the sand. In fact, it’s becoming quite the local attraction!

Residents of the seaside town Sables d’Olonne have a sizable problem on their hands: a beached ship that they can’t seem to get unstuck. Looks like they’ll have to try again tomorrow.

These brief interviews on the streets of Lille were conducted in order to test the waters of the tricky dispute over the banning of burqa-wearing in public.

Dive back in to the 1968 winter Olympics, held in Grenoble, France. “Treize jours en France,” a recently restored documentary film made in ‘68 by director Claude Lelouch, captures the spirit of the times, and the “pre-revolutionary” zeitgeist leading up to the events of May.

Arlette Grosskost, UMP (Union for a Popular Movement) representative and member of the Parliamentary task force on the burqa in France, advocates a law aiming to ban the wearing of the full-body veil in public. What’s your take on this controversial issue? Is it a question of women’s rights? Of religious freedom? Are arguments against the burqa perhaps another type of veil—to cover up underlying racism?

Paris's Gay Pride march (La Marche des Fiertés) takes place every June, beginning in the Montparnasse district and ending in the Bastille district. This video of the march was recorded a few years before France legalized same-sex marriage in 2013.