Under the Tricolour Marquee: The Buoyant Mood at the French Embassy's Bastille Day Celebration
- La Rédaction
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
Speeches done, time for the party. Bastille Day at the French Embassy in Phnom Penh also means hundreds of guests packed under a blue-white-red marquee, bursts of laughter, food stalls under siege, and glasses clinking late into the evening. A look back, in pictures, at the thoroughly joyful, easygoing mood of an evening built entirely around good cheer.
Before the party got underway, guests had sat through the customary speeches: Ambassador Olivier Richard's address looked ahead to the year to come, between the Francophonie Summit and a presidential visit, followed by Minister Prak Sokhonn's reply, which called for a partnership elevated to strategic rank. Two serious, almost solemn addresses — before the mood shifted entirely.
A Toast Kicks Things Off
It was shortly after the speeches that the evening truly turned into a celebration, as faces that had been focused moments earlier visibly relaxed. Champagne glass in hand, Minister Prak Sokhonn and Ambassador Olivier Richard opened the festivities together, in an instantly warm atmosphere, before the crowd, all smiles, scattered toward the many stalls set up in the embassy garden.
A Packed Marquee, a Warm Buzz
Under the large marquee decked out in the colours of France, the sheer size of the crowd said it all about the evening's success — and, above all, about the good mood running through it. Evening gowns, dark suits and more casual outfits mixed freely, in a cheerful blend of Cambodian and French guests, diplomats and entrepreneurs, familiar faces from the cultural scene and curious newcomers alike, all visibly delighted to be there together.
A welcome change this year: the marquee was noticeably larger than in years past, air-conditioned, and the food and drink stalls considerably more numerous. Gone were the days of guests crowding under a smaller, slightly too-warm tent: the evening felt more fluid, less packed, and the mood more relaxed than before.
The Kingdom's Culinary Rendezvous
As every year, Bastille Day was also an occasion to celebrate French gastronomy and its Cambodian outposts. Aged cheeses, fine charcuterie, condiments and fresh bread lined the tables, while several French and Franco-Cambodian addresses in Phnom Penh ran stalls to showcase their know-how to guests.
Among the stalls, that of the Paul Dubrule School of Hospitality and Tourism was a reminder that French gastronomy in Cambodia is also being passed on to a new generation, through courses in cooking, pastry and service, trained to international hospitality standards.
Not far away, meat sizzled on the grills, with skewered sausages and cuts of lamb competing for guests' attention between trips to the cocktail bar.
A little further on, the team from one of the many fine restaurants present that evening was hard at work behind its own stall, carving and plating with meticulous care, doing justice to authentic French cuisine with a presentation polished down to the last detail.
And the food, it has to be said, was genuinely excellent — yes, for one evening, this really was France.
Cosmetics, Fashion and French Art de Vivre
Beyond the food tables, several French cosmetics brands had also set up within the embassy grounds, between product presentations and knowing smiles, a reminder that France's presence in Phnom Penh is not confined to the plate.
Reunions and New Encounters
But the real substance of the evening, in the end, lay less in the stalls than in the faces: friends reunited over a drink, colleagues extending an office conversation, or strangers trading a smile before raising a glass together. A mood that mirrored the very relationship the evening was celebrating — warm and unpretentious, between two communities visibly happy to be reunited.
Similar scenes played out all across the marquee: glasses raised, impromptu reunions, bursts of laughter between bites.
The evening carried on until around 9:30 pm in a thoroughly easygoing mood, with guests moving between stalls, laughter, hugs and last rounds of drinks, confirming, if confirmation were needed, that Bastille Day remains one of the most eagerly awaited — and most enjoyable — dates on Phnom Penh's calendar.