This weekend featured a slew of events (like this one and these) in various American cities all in honor of the French national day, commonly referred to as Bastille Day. But even if you missed out on the weekend events, you still have today -- which happens to be the actual holiday -- to celebrate the ideals of fraternité, égalité et liberté (translation: freedom à la française).

Bastille Day commemorates the storming of the Bastille, which occurred on July 14, 1789. The storming of the famous prison kicked off the French Revolution and was emblematic of the uprising of a modern France that no longer wanted to be controlled by the absolute powers of a monarch. Just like the 4th of July is cause for celebration so is July 14th, so if you're a francophile at heart, or just need an excuse to throw a good party, here is quick guide to having your own célébration française:

What you need:

• French baguette
• French cheese
• Bottle of French wine
• Bottle of Champagne
• Checkered picnic cloth
• Several savory French dishes

Optional:

• Tri-colored clothing (come on, you have to have something left over from the 4th of July)
• Beret

Don your French gear and throw all necessary items into a picnic basket; Bastille Day is meant to be enjoyed outdoors. If you're really into it you can even memorize the lyrics to La Marseillaise, the French national anthem, and sing it to your heart's content. To spice up the afternoon, play a round of pétanque, the popular outdoor game.

See, who ever said you needed to travel to France to enjoy Bastille Day? You can even check out the official Parisian activities here. Bonne fête!

The days of standing in line to enter the Eiffel Tower may be numbered as a $267 million, 10-year plan has been unveiled that will give better and easier access to visitors. Built in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was designed for 500,000 people, today the structure attracts about 7 million visitors a year.

At some point in the future you will be able to reserve a 30-minute slot online, the restaurant will be bigger and cheaper, and there will be a new champagne bar on the third floor. With these changes, they hope to attract not only a larger tourist crowd but also Parisians, and of course increase the Tower's profit levels too.

Lines to visit tourist hotspots are a major annoyance these days so it's cool that steps are being taken to cut line-time. The Alhambra and the Tower of London are some of the other places that have done a great job giving people the option of pre-booking their visit online.

Monolingual, white tennis shoes, an unbecoming outfit and an ugly fanny pack: my stereotypical image of an American tourist. But apparently Americans don't win the number one spot for the world's most obnoxious tourists. In Europe, that special place is held for the French, reports Time Magazine.

According to an international survey conducted for Expedia.fr, the French are in fact considered to be overall the worst of the worst of tourists. Employees in 4,000 hotels in Germany, the U.K., Italy, France, Canada and the U.S. were asked to rank their clients on different levels ranging from willingness to speak the local language to discretion and elegance, and French travelers did not fare well.

France fell behind India and China as providing the world with the worst tourists. And the stereotypically obnoxious American tourist? Out of 21 countries, with the most liked at the top, the US got an impressive 11th place. Why is that? Among other reasons, despite language faults, Americans get the top spot for trying to speak local languages the most. Quelle surprise.

To celebrate France's rotating presidency of the European Union (EU), the Eifel tower is glowing blue. Additionally, twelve stars are mounted on the northwest face of the tower to look like the EU flag. From the Trocadero Gardens and The Pallais de Chaillot, you can get a square view of the spectacle, which is where the above picture was taken.

The tower will continue to glow blue through the end of the summer, so if you're in Paris make sure you stop by to take a look

Remember that for ten minutes at the top of every hour, strobe lights will be turned on the tower to make it sparkle, a feature that was originally installed earlier this decade but just brought back because of its populartiy.

Bon voyage!

The French bise (salutatory kiss on the cheek) is always slightly awkward for those of us who haven't grown up using it. Do you kiss once, twice, three times, or even four? Fortunately this map, made by a Frenchman named Gilles Debunne, gives a geographical explanation for just how many cheek kisses you should administer. The map was made after a poll that Debunne did with over 18,000 people, asking just how many bises they were used to doing upon meeting a fellow compatriot.

Unfortunately, a map can only do so much, and even within some départements there is still confusion on just how many bises to do. But here are some basic rules for French cheek-kissing that will help to make your introduction to a French person a little less awkward:

• You don't need to kiss the cheek of a superior (a boss, the President, etc.).
  

• Offer your right cheek; just like when you stretch out your arm for a handshake.

• Men can get away with not kissing each other hello; this is often reserved for very close friends or males with a familial connection.

• If you don't feel comfortable kissing people on the cheek, play the foreigner card and at least go for a handshake. Definitely make eye contact with everyone in the room; not making an effort to give an official hello is a major faux pas.

If your French is up to speed you might find this video amusing, otherwise check out the interactive version of the map here.

I don't think the new minister will be popular in France. And that's even if she doesn't marry a former supermodel.

Christine Lagarde, France's first female minister for finance and economy, said that it is time for French people to "roll up their sleeves and stop thinking about holidays." Five weeks of vacation guaranteed by the state, to be exact.

"Instead of thinking about their work, people were thinking about their weekend... organizing, planning and engineering time off," she told BBC.

BBC also reports that the former international lawyer, impressed by the work ethic during her time in the US, is intent on instilling the same spirit in her countrymen and women. (The spirit of not taking time off?)

Didn't President Sarkozy try doing the same thing before his popularity went down the drain?
The lesson? Don't mess with the French and their vacation time.

The French and the Germans have a long, complicated diplomatic history. Aside from the fierce hostilities that took place during World War I and World War II, the two countries frequently bicker over disputed boundaries, in particular the Alsace-Lorraine region. Though tensions have cooled noticeably in recent years, it looks as though a new "international incident" involving garden gnomes (?!) is once again stirring tensions.

According to Metro UK, a sneaky gentleman from France has been charged with stealing around 170 of the statues on both sides of the French-German border. Although the motivation for the crime has puzzled French authorities, some have speculated that it may be part of the work of a shadowy organization known as the Garden Gnome Liberation Front. At the very least, it seems to be only one in a long string of gnome-targeted attacks.

Could this be part of some vast international gnome conspiracy to topple the world order? I don't think we'll ever know for sure, though I have my suspicions that Travelocity's annoying gnome mascot (or at least a clever marketing department) is somehow involved. Stay tuned.

It really shouldn't come as a surprise, but when you are trying to save those euros this summer, you are going to want to spend your time discovering cities by way of public transportation. Buses, street cars and metros are what the European continent is known for, and this article in the New York Times highlights how many good deals you can find aboard different forms of transportation.

The article lays out how much you'll have to pay and where public transportation can take you in five European cities: London, Paris, Barcelona, Berlin and Rome. Any budget conscious traveler will most likely already be well versed in the variety of modes of public transportation and how to pay for them -- the constant "single tickets vs. multi-day pass" question -- but what I do like about the article are the recommendations for day trips, all accessible by main Metro, Tube or U-Bahn lines, and that take you to some off the beaten path destinations.

The budget basics:

London: The Tube. Invest in a pay-as-you-go Oyster Card to save some money, you have to pay a 3.50£ deposit to get the card, so make sure not to lose it so you can get your money back.
Paris: Le Metro. One trip passes are 1.50€, but the Times recommends that it's probably cheaper to buy a pack of ten than invest in a multi-day pass.
Barcelona: Metro. Single tickets cost 1.30€, but it makes more sense to buy a ten trip pass which starts at 7.20€.
Berlin: U-Bahn. Single ticket fares start at 2.10€ and a one day pass starts at 6.10€.
Rome: Metropolitana. It's super cheap: single-ride tickets start at 1€ and one-day passes at 4€!

Read the whole article here.

I love what this photo captures! It reminds me of my first trip to Paris: I was 14 and all I remember from being in the Louvre was the hoard of tourists standing in front of the Mona Lisa practically elbowing and shoving each other just to get a photo of the famed painting. Matt Coats' title for this photo cracks me up too "Take a picture and enjoy it later, we've got things to see."

Want your pictures considered for Gadling's Photo of the Day? Submit your best shots to Gadling's Flickr pool and maybe you too will get lucky.

I managed to move my schedule around so I'd have the first 9 days of May off. My wife and kids had already left to visit my mother-in-law in Germany, so once I was finished working in April, I hopped on a Lufthansa flight to join up with them. Most pilots would rather have dental reconstruction than have to get on an airplane for their vacation, but, I really do like my mother-in-law, and we were all due for a visit to see her.

By working my schedule to give me so much time off in the beginning of the month, I knew I'd be working without many days off for the rest of May. Sure enough, I managed to cram in a month's worth of flying into three weeks.

The day after arriving home from Germany, I went out on an early morning Miami turn with Captain Keith. I like to think I'm caught up on the happenings in the airline world, but that all goes out the window when I fly with Keith. He's the perfect source for the latest happenings in this business and I always feel up to date after flying with him. Unfortunately, I would only be flying the leg down to Miami and then deadheading home. Keith would continue on to Barbados with a Miami co-pilot. It seems the company is running a bit short of pilots and the only way to cover that first leg was to break up the trip--having a Boston co-pilot fly the first part with the remainder flown by the someone from the Miami base.

The next day I had a weekend Paris trip. Everyone is excited to fly to Paris once again. Years ago we flew this trip year-round, but now it's seasonal-from May until October-and it's become a very desirable destination for most of the crews. Occasionally the trip will become available to pick up or trade for, so there's hope, even for those of us at the bottom of the list. My goal was to trade into as many Paris trips as I could hold for the month of May. For a better idea how the seniority system works see this post.