Bastille Day was yesterday, and you know what that means: French maids. No, seriously. DCist staff photographer James Calder was on hand for L'Enfant Cafe and Bar's Bastille Day Block Party on 18th Street NW, in which teams of "maids" -- some with much higher hems than others -- tried to move as much champagne from one end of a crowded space to another. With a spoon. There was even some controversy: two teams actually tied. But eventually a winner was crowned, and everyone assembled had a crowded, sweaty, masqueraded, bubbly good time. Joie de vivre, indeed. more ›

The French embassy welcomed the public onto the grounds of it's La Maison Française over the weekend to get a head start on Bastille Day celebrations with a party benefiting the Comité Tricolore. The Josephine Baker/Roaring 20's-themed event featured food from 15 local chefs, a silent auction and several live jazz performances. more ›

Dish of the Week: Ma po tofu more ›

Les Halles in Penn Quarter served its final steak frites last night. According to the Going Out Gurus, the 15-year-old restaurant shuttered under the pressure of increased rents in the increasingly ritzy neighborhood, and not from a decline in customers. Hopefully some other local French restaurant will take up the Bastille Day Waiter's Race hosting duties -- any nominees for the job? Maybe Bistrot du Coin? And be sure to raise a glass of Beaujolais Nouveau on Thursday and toast Les Halles. more ›

While celebrating Independence day on July 4 may mark the pinnacle of American patriotism, what else could be more party-worthy than honoring the storming of a prison by a mob of Parisiens - otherwise known as Bastille Day. more ›

FRIDAY: >> Even though Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix is an obvious choice for the movie-going crowd this weekend, the Avalon Theatre -- just north of the Potter madness at the Uptown -- is showing Talk to Me, the new biopic on the life of famed Washington, D.C., talk-show host and activist Ralph Waldo "Petey" Greene Jr. 5:50 and 8:30 p.m. >> Unbuckled alumni The Vita Ruins celebrate the release of their... more ›

FRIDAY: >>Today is Bastille Day, which commemorates the Fête de la Fédération of 1790, held on the first anniversary of the storming of the Bastille July 14th, 1789 — basically it's all about sticking it to the man and rising up as a French nation. But as all noble foreign holidays seem to be celebrated in America, we've turned it into an excuse to eat and drink too much. Last year we put together a... more ›

Good morning Washington, and welcome to the second full day of this summer's Crime Emergency. Feel safer yet? No? Well, give it a few weeks. It'll still be a little while before the city collectively re-loses interest in its crime problem. But for now, there's some excellent coverage in the area media — and perhaps unsurprisingly, the Post is leading the way. July's Murders Examined: Although the deaths of Alan Senitt and Chris Crowder have pushed the city into action, theirs were far from the first lives lost during this disturbingly violent summer. Today's Post spends nearly 3,000 words examining the lives and deaths of the fourteen murder victims that have been lost (as of this writing) in the city during July. Although some of the accounts are short on details, it's heartening to see the recent violence examined in a context that extends beyond Georgetown. Officials Warn There's No Quick Fix: As one might expect, the immediate substantive reactions to the uproar over crime have been changes in how police are deployed throughout the city: yesterday the city council allocated $31.5 million for new officers, and the U.S. Park Police announced changes to its patrol schedules aimed at making the Mall safer. However, there are indications that these measures may not be the magic bullet we'd all like. Police Chief Ramsey is warning that it may take years for the allocated funds to be fully converted into police officers. And WTOP reports that the Park Police's recent failures may have more to do with systematic understaffing rather than merely an inefficient patrol pattern — a problem that former Park Police Chief Teresa Chambers was fired for pointing out. Stadium Parking Found: The Post reports that stadium planners think they've come up with a solution to their looming parking problem. You might remember a recent controversy over whether the stadium's garages would be above or below ground. That issue was resolved with a simple non-decision ("both!"), but it only opened enough spaces for the ticketholders with the deepest pockets. But what about us plebes? Well, apparently 9,000 more spaces have been located for the unwashed masses. However, they're spread out over many sites, some are quite far from the stadium, a third are currently in private hands, and many are served by insufficient streets. Briefly Noted: Officer apologizes for racially-charged comment... Chief Ramsey asks feds for help getting max sentences for offenders... NBC4 discovers Craigslist, makes a graphic for it... FCC sends Comcast and MASN to binding arbitration... This Day In DCist: We interviewed the very talented RPM (Restoring Poetry in Music), discussed the best places to eat on Bastille Day (Happy B-Day all, by the way), and looked at the latest political news surrounding voting rights and stadium financing. Image posted to DCist Photos by Flickr user llemanie more ›

It's 14 Juillet -- July 14th to you non-Francophones, the day when the French commemorate the storming of the Bastille with fireworks, dances, and (naturally, they're French) food. Though we may not have some of the culinary options our friends at Parisist enjoy, some of the District's French restaurants are getting into the act. One popular destination is the annual Waiters' Race at Les Halles, where waiters will run with full trays from the Pennsylvania Ave. bistro to the Capitol and back. Get there early as the event gets packed. more ›

Good morning. If you're looking for something to do tonight, today is the date of the monthly iPod DJ night at Cafe Saint-Ex. Yeah, yeah, after being featured in the Post, USA Today and WUSA's 11 o'clock news, it doesn't quite have the same cachet as the early days, although we have heard attendance has declined to reasonable levels after a peak. Tonight at 12:01 they'll be asking DJ's to switch to French music to celebrate Bastille Day. The photo is from a Fort Reno concert earlier in the week. Today temps will be in the upper 80s with a 50 percent chance of showers in the afternoon. more ›