Allons enfants de la patrie...

We thought we'd start today's blog entry with the stirring first words from La Marseillaise to mark Bastille Day, which was yesterday. We have now experienced a proper French Bastille Day, and the best place to do that is definitely Paris.
The celebrations started on the night of the 13th, when the traditional 'firemen's dances' are held. In our quartier, a giant stage and big screen had been erected beside the Bastille monument, and the roundabout was closed to traffic so that people could dance or just watch the show. The musicians were pretty good, and although the music wasn't really to our taste, we stayed until midnight to enjoy the atmosphere. What better place to celebrate Bastille Day than the site of the Bastille?
The next morning we got up early to watch the military parade on the Champs Elysées. There were lots of people, so hard to see properly, but we did get a glimpse of monsieur le président, Jacques Chirac. The parade, designed to show off France's military prowess and capabilities, was very impressive. The best bits on the ground were the French Foreign Legion, the mountain rangers, who were wearing floppy white berets and carrying skis, around 20 tanks, and the Republican Guard on horseback. Up in the air, there was a tricolore flyover (three planes, trailing red, white and blue smoke), an electronic spy plane, and several other planes flying in formation. Then, to end the parade, around 30 helicopters flew overhead in formation.
The fun didn't end there, though. Bastille Day means fireworks, and Paris put on an amazing display yesterday night, at the Champ-de-Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower. The fireworks started at 10.30, when the sky was just starting to get dark. We got there too late to get the best view, but we still got a good show. The display lasted for 32 (!) minutes, and was accompanied by an orchestra playing Mozart songs, to celebrate the 250th anniversary of his birth. The display was perfectly choreographed to the music, with lots of different colours and shapes. The finale was jaw-droppingly good, and the whole sky seemed to be full of lights. There was probably as many fireworks in the last minute as there are in the whole of the Wellington one (I think Paris just may have a bigger budget). If this is the only Bastille Day we have in France, I think we spent it the right way!