VIDEO: France World Cup victory celebrated at Boerum Hill Bastille Day

July 16, 2018 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle

France fans stood on tables and sat on each other’s shoulders while they cheered as their national team was awarded the World Cup. Eagle photos by Paul Frangipane

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The aperitifs were flowing, the boules were flying and grilled meats were smoking up Smith Street, but tens of thousands of people with French connections weren’t just celebrating Bastille Day on Sunday, they were popping champagne because their national team had just won the World Cup.

One of the largest Bastille Day celebrations in the United States took place once again between Bergen and Pacific streets in Boerum Hill. An energized party on a normal year, this year’s festivities centered around the World Cup final with fans draped in French flags jumping on top of each other’s shoulders, cheering and dancing around the streets as France won over Croatia.

TVs posted up by Bar Tabac bistro drew dense crowds to the bar while others took to the stretches of spread-out sand on Smith Street that were petanque courts. Petanque, similar to bocce, is a French game played by throwing metal balls, or boules, at a small wooden ball.

The event took place between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. and was sponsored in part by Bar Tabac. It was a celebration of France’s independence, although the country’s true Independence Day is July 14.