France's national day is one of the great spectacles of the republic. The morning brings the world's oldest and largest military parade down the Champs-Élysées — jets trailing tricolor smoke, the Légion étrangère in kepis, cavalry in ceremonial dress. But the real magic is at night. Every town in France throws a party. In Paris, the Eiffel Tower fireworks at 11pm are genuinely world-class, and the bals des pompiers — dances hosted by fire stations across the city — are chaotic, sweaty, very French, and completely free. Book well ahead. Paris hotels fill months out for this one.
The firemen's balls (bals des pompiers) the night of July 13 are a local secret worth knowing. Queues form early but the atmosphere is unlike anything else in Paris.