Advertisement

IN PICTURES: Paris wows the world with Bastille Day parade

AFP
AFP - [email protected]
IN PICTURES: Paris wows the world with Bastille Day parade
The parade showcased the best of the French and European armed forces. Photo: Ludovic Marin / POOL / AFP

Few military pageants worldwide rival France's Bastille Day parade. Here are 22 pictures of this year's show.

Advertisement

The day began with troops, tanks and assault vehicles lining up in preparation by the Arc de Triomphe. 

Philippe Lopez / AFP

Ludovic Marin/AFP

Ludovic Marin/AFP

Members of the French Republican Guard (Garde Republicaine) expertly kept their horses under control as they waited for the parade to begin. 

Phillipe Lopez/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron then joined French Armies Chief Staff General Francois Lecointre in an Acmat VLRA vehicle as the two reviewed the troops before the start of the Bastille Day military parade. 
 

Ludovic Marin/Pool/AFP
 
French Mounted Republican guards were among the first soldiers to parade down the Champs-Elysées avenue.

Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

German chancellor Angela Merkel, European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, French President Emmanuel Macron and other heads of state watched an infantry exercise from seats on the side of Champs Elysées. 

Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

Zapata CEO Franky Zapata flew a jet-powered hoverboard or "Flyboard" prior to the Bastille Day military parade down the Champs-Elysées avenue in Paris. 
 

Lionel Bonaventure/AFP
 
Portuguese and Dutch soldiers took part in the parade, as did the armed forces of several other nations. 
 

Alain Jocard/AFP

French President Emmanuel Macron greeted German Chancellor Angela Merkel after surveying the troops. 

Kamil Zihnioglu / POOL / AFP

France's elite acrobatic flying team "Patrouille de France" (PAF) performed a flying display over Paris during the parade. 
 
Lionel Bonaventure/AFP
 
Photo: Local reader @Clickchiyaaon
 
The French Foreign Legion's ceremonial Pioneers were an eye-catching sight with their traditional buffalo leather aprons and full beards and polished axes. 
 
 
Two yellow vest protesters, both women, were surrounded and escorted from the site of the parade by French gendarmes. 

Phillipe Lopez/AFP

The mounted Republican Guards, with their sabres and ceremonial uniform, were popular with spectators.  
 

Alain Jocard/AFP

A French Char Leclerc tank took part in the parade. 

Ludovic Marin/AFP

A drone mounted on the back of a pick-up. 

Ludovic Marin/AFP

Members of the civic service and the universal national service SNU (Service National Universel) held a giant French flag. 
 

Ludovic Marin/AFP

Armoured cars trundled down the Champs Elysées. 
 

Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

More pictures of the Pioneers. 

Lionel Bonaventure/AFP

A French Airbus A330 Phenix flew over the parade, followed by two French Mirage 2000-5 airplanes and four French Rafale airplanes. 
 
Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP
 
And in a reminder of the continuing importance of France's military alliance with Britain, a CH47 Chinook helicopter also flew over the parade. 

Zakaria Abdelkafi/AFP

After the parade was complete, a beaming Emmanuel Macron waved to the crowd before he was driven away. 

Ludovic Marin/ POOL/AFP

Photo: Local reader @Clickchiyaaon

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

See Also