The French Embassy celebrated Bastille Day in Seoul on Monday with a slew of French and South Korean businesses, while reflecting on its growing diplomatic and cultural relations with Korea.

The reception was an occasion to showcase many French companies doing business here, such as Pierre and Busan-based Renault Samsung Motors, and South Korean companies that proffer French-like themed businesses, such as SPC Group’s Paris Croissant and Paris Baguette.

French Ambassador to South Korea Jerome Pasquier thanked guests and sponsors, including the many French and Korean companies. The embassy even gifted every attending guest a baguette.

Bastille Day, or “La Fete Nationale,” is France’s National Day and celebrates the storming of the Bastille fortress on July 14, 1789.

South Korean-French diplomatic relations began in 1886 with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Commerce and Navigation, but Korean-French relations have hit a high note recently with the visit by President Park Geun-hye to Paris in November 2013.

France and Korea will celebrate the 130th anniversary of Korean-French diplomatic relations in 2015 and 2016. Anniversary celebrations kick off in France in September 2015, and continue for a year and a half through 2016.

The French-Korean Chamber of Commerce and Industry, together with the Embassy of Korea in France, also hosted a Bastille Day celebration later on Monday at Novotel Ambassador Hotel in southern Seoul.

On the cultural front, there is currently an exhibition of some 175 works of 19th- and 20th-century French impressionism from France’s Musee d’Orsay on display at the National Museum of Korea. The exhibition continues until Aug. 31.

(ephilip2014@heraldcorp.com)