Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

France’s Macron Marks Second Bastille Day with Champs Elysees Parade

France’s Macron Marks Second Bastille Day with Champs Elysees Parade

PARIS - France celebrated Bastille Day on Saturday with a colorful military parade in Paris presided by President Emmanuel Macron, and hoped the party would continue on Sunday when the national soccer team meets Croatia in the World Cup final in Russia. Standing on a military vehicle flanked by motorcycle escorts and led by a cavalry procession, Macron rode down the Champs Elysees, Paris’s most famous boulevard, for his second July 14 parade, cheered by hundreds of spectators.
Bastille Day commemorates the storming of a prison in 1789, a key event in the French Revolution.
After U.S. President Donald Trump in 2017, Macron this year invited the leaders of Japan and Singapore, two Asian nations with long-standing strategic partnership with France.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who canceled to deal with deadly floods at home, was represented by Foreign Minister Taro Kono. The more than two-hour parade, with some 4,200 soldiers, 220 vehicles and around 100 aircrafts, saw Japanese and Singaporean soldiers take part as guests of honor.
There were two glitches, though, as two motorcycles collided during a demonstration in front of guests, while an Alpha jet from the Air Force Patrouille de France acrobatic unit released a wrong color for the French flag during a formation flight. (Reuters)