Bastille Day, 2014

July 14 in France is Bastille Day, the day when French people celebrate their independence as a nation.  The Bastille was a French prison which the people of Paris stormed in 1789 to capture weapons, and that event began the French revolution against the French monarchy.  It took more than 100 years for the country to actually become a republic (there were various monarchs in between including Napoleon).  Now more than 2 centuries later, France celebrates Bastille Day this year with remembrance of the beginning of the first World War in 1914.  Countries around the world were invited to attend the military parade down the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Chuck and I made our way to the Champs-Elysees at the Grand Palais before the parade began.   The whole of the boulevard was packed several deep.

The parade started with a flyover of a large collection of planes in groups of 3 to 5 aircraft.

Thereafter, military groups, some playing music, marched along.We couldn't see much of the parade,

so we went to the end point of the parade at the Assemblee Nationale.

I took some photos of the presentation of colors, various military groups, and young military officers in their very colorful uniforms.

Among the countries participating was the US.  In the photo below you can see three US military personnel and the US flag.

The parade ended with a lot of army vehicles, something you do not see in the US:

FIREWORKS!!

What celebration day would be complete without fireworks?  In the evening a truly stunning fireworks display was held at the Eiffel Tower.  We decided not to join 10s or 100s of thousands of people near the Tower, but instead to watch from our own unique viewpoint in our apartment:  a clear view of the tower from our apartment window.  The display was 40 minutes long and accompanied by music, most of it classical including Bach's Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring and the Pavane by Fauré, but also included the Beatle's tune Imagine!  We could hear the music even though we are roughly a mile from the tower.  The photos below show  the Tower bathed in blue light, and fireworks being shot off the Eiffel Tower.

And here is a short video from the finale, complete with the sound of the fireworks.

Happy Bastille Day!