JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: For more than 200 years the French have been celebrating the storming of the Bastille prison, an event that set off the French Revolution on July 14th, 1789. As we hear from CNN's Jim Bittermann, this year there was a new zest to the tradition.</s>JIM BITTERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In tiny villages and ancient cities, from one end of the country to the other, France was under orders to have a good time. The National Millennium Committee had wanted Bastille Day 2000 to be something special. And since it was the French who invented the word "picnic," what else could people do but spread out their tablecloths, open up their baskets and help the national effort to stage the incredible picnic, the largest picnic ever? Regional products were served up by the boatload, and mass barbecue grilling went on coast to coast, 600 miles along a 17th century geographic line called the Green Meridian. Sponsors donated 400 miles of red-checked tablecloths for the occasion, and participants were encouraged to be creative from there. So they played soccer in front of ancient ruins and flew model airplane dog fights in the sky. In Paris, 12,000 French mayors gathered for a million-dollar lunch in the gardens of the Senate, and the uninvited could always find a little something to eat on a bridge across the River Seine. (on camera): From the outset, the French had planned to stretch their millennium celebrations throughout the year. The incredible picnic seemed proof enough that the party here is not over yet. (voice-over): In fact, from the look of the kissing contest organized by the mayor of a village named Folleville, the party is just getting under way. Jim Bittermann, CNN, Folleville, France.</s>WOODRUFF: They do know how to observe a revolution. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
French Celebrate Bastille Day With National Picnic