Each year, Paris offers a majestic parade accompanied by a spectacular air show on the Champs Elysées to celebrate the French national holiday; Bastille Day. Book your stay at the Hotel Interlude today and spend an unforgettable July 14th in Paris.
A parade on land and in the air
As required by tradition, the day’s festivities begin at 10:00 on the most beautiful avenue in the world. The arrival of the President of the Republic is announced with the appropriate fanfare, then the ceremonial procession from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde of the French military regiments begins. This military parade, one of the oldest in the world, presents nearly 4,300 soldiers, men and women, marching on foot, and includes the Republican Guard and Foreign Legion. Then come the motorised and armoured troops and motorcyclists, making a total of 220 vehicles driven by the elite of the French Army. This year, European military cooperation will be honoured under the slogan ‘Protect together’. The event ends with an equestrian touch thanks to the Republican Guard's cavalry fanfare, which totals 250 horses and riders.
Among the other highlights of the morning will be videos and drone shows reflecting the army's desire for innovation as well as its adaptation to current threats and ‘the war of tomorrow’.
Once the troops have been reviewed by the President, it will be time to begin the morning’s climactic event; an impressive air show in the skies over Paris. This will feature some sixty aircraft, including nine Alpha Jets of the precision aerobatic demonstration unit of the French Air Force called the Patrouille de France, as well as the Dassault Rafale, flagship of the Air Force, 30 helicopters including the famous Eurocopter Tiger, and hunters shooting by at nearly 556 km/h. A stirring demonstration of air power above the Champs-Elysées.
The Bastille Day fireworks display
The celebration of July 14th will end, as always, in a magnificent fireworks display that is certainly one of the most impressive and innovative in France, due in no small part to the splendid setting in the vicinity of the Eiffel Tower. Each year the challenge to the pyrotechnics experts is to make the display more spectacularly choreographed and creative than ever before. The 2019 fireworks promise to illuminate the Parisian night in breathtaking colours and, once again, more than live up to all expectations. Shot from the top of the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero Gardens, the dazzling display will last for some 30 minutes.
Let yourself be enchanted by the magic of Bastille Day in Paris when you attend this sound and light show that brings together all generations and nourishes the collective memory of France.
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Photo credit: © Yann Caradec - Flickr
Hotel L'Interlude, a 3-star hotel in the heart of the 12th arrondissement
