> Um--I rather thought we had our Bicentennial in 1976,
and France's, for Bastille Day, was 1979.

Yet another faux pas. Merdre! The storming of the Bastille took place on July 14th 1789 and immediately preceded the French Revolution. In 1889, to commemorate the centenary, Paris held the world Exposition and built a number of 'temporary' structures on the Champ de Mars of which only the Eiffel tower survives. A double celebration was held in 1989 - the bicentennial of the revolution and the centenary of the tower.