The French Library in Back Bay is a home for Francophones in the Boston area.
It’s the spot to discuss and appreciate all aspects of French culture in town. These days, a lot of that conversation has been around the World Cup. So much so that it even overshadowed one of the country’s biggest holidays.
On Sunday, the Library hosted a Bastille Day celebration ahead of the holiday on Tuesday.
“People wanted to celebrate, but everybody was just talking about Les Bleus in the World Cup,” said Barbara Bouquegneau, president and executive director of the library. “It is that important, in not only pop culture, but really it’s in the DNA of the French people.”
Unfortunately for France fans, this year’s Bastille Day may go down as a bummer following France’s 2-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals of the World Cup. For the small but spirited group who watched in the Library’s Founders’ Room, it was a moment to appreciate the company of fellow Francophones, even in defeat.
Benoit Landon, the librarian, was in France when the team won the Cup in 2018. Being at the library was about the closest he could get to that this time around.
“It’s great to have watch parties because sometimes you can feel like you’re away from home, and it brings you back with your people,” he said.
Strings of small French flags lined the wood-paneled room with an overhead projector playing the game. A larger French flag stood in the corner. Several of the spectators had the French tricolor painted on their cheeks.
Elementary schoolers from the Library’s summer program watched on bean bag chairs near the front during the first-half. A cutout of French forward Kylian Mbappé, recognized as one of the best players in the world, stood guard by the entryway.
Even he couldn’t ward off the bad spirits Spain brought France’s way. Les Bleus looked uncharacteristically timid against a Spanish side that has only given up one goal all tournament. The French — who usually play football the way Zeus plays with thunderbolts — were suddenly painfully mortal.
After the final whistle, there wasn’t much for France fans to do besides go home and wonder what could have been. For Sibyl Senters, though, there was a silver lining: while she’s a Francophone, she’s half-Puerto Rican and her mom’s family is originally from Spain. So, she still has a team to cheer for. Even if that made Tuesday complicated.
“I rooted for France and it has been a conflict because, of course, the family heritage is Spanish, but my love ... is France. And so, I had to choose between family heritage or my love. And I chose love,” she said, laughing.
The result may have not been what the fans at the French Library wanted to see. France will now play in Saturday’s third-place game, which could feel more like punishment than consolation for a team hoping to win it all.
But Bouquegneau will remember this summer for what happened off the pitch as much as for what took place on it. Like how the Cup offered a chance for people from different cultures and countries to interact through the game.
“It is such an opportunity to welcome people from France and from the Francophone countries to here, and to also show them that in spite of everything that’s going on in the world and all the tensions and the stress that everybody experiences, we can all rally towards something that is more fun and kind of cultural,” she said.
