parade

France wouldn’t be France if we didn’t celebrate our athletes with a parade on the Champs Élysées. So of course, we do. And can you believe it? Viewing spots are free! Just sign up quickly enough. We’re pros at quick sign-up by now, and so we have access to a certain sector on the left side (in the shade) of the Avenue. We arrive early, and everyone gets a flag to wave. Yay! We’re in the second or third row, with a very good view, and we made sure to position ourselves with a view of a large screen as well. (Remember the first Opening Ceremony?) On top of that, the athletes are going to walk up on a raised catwalk, so even the people way behind will be able to see them just fine.

The Lebrun brothers, French table tennis stars

Even before the Parade of the Champions starts, we get a special treat: Several athletes, some with medals around their necks casually walk down the avenue to the starting point, passing right in front of us! And someone else is there, too: Tony Estanguet, the guy who got us the Games in the first place, head of the organizing committee. I shout, “Thank you Tony!” I hope he hears it.

The guy with the blue jacket is Tony Estanguet, head of the organizing committee! Thank you for the party!

Then we get another treat: The Phryge-covered taxi from the Paralympics Opening Ceremony drives up on one side and back down on the other.

Then the Assassin from Assassin’s Creed who carried the torch over the rooftops in the Olympics Opening Ceremony, walks up the catwalk, only to be met by the mysterious rider of the horse on the river, who hands the assassin a baton. Three “coups de bâton”, the French national colours explode around the Arc de Triomphe, echoing Austerlitz Bridge at the Opening Ceremony, and we’re off.

The mysterious rider from the Olympics Opening Ceremony with a “bâton” (on the screen)

Rider and Assassin right in front of us!

The Arc de Triomphe as we saw it on the big screen

The Assassin on screen and live right in front of us

The Parade is led by a bunch of life-sized Phryges. They are so adorable! There’s one covered in sequins, one is Léon Marchand with his swim goggles and medals, one wears the now famous but still ugly volunteer uniform hat.

The volunteer Phryge (the volunteer uniform hat was in high demand)

Games volunteers and members of Team France take their well-deserved viewing spots between the catwalk and the barriers.

And then, finally, the athletes.

Paralympic boccia champion Aurélie Aubert with her coach Claudine Lliop

The Portal brothers (we saw them at the paraswimming event) with the red hats

Léon Marchand with one of his four (!) gold medals

Teddy Riner on the big screen and right in front of us

Center left with beard: Antoine Dupont, captain of the gold-medalling French rugby team

My favourites: Léon Marchand letting a blind para-athlete hold and feel one of his medals (Olympic medals are slightly different from Paralympic ones and obviously have no Braille), and Teddy Riner, the French star judoka, wearing a nice suit. Why? Because once they are at the top of the Champs Elysées, the medalled athletes get Decorations (Legion of Honour or National Order of Merit) but as he has already received several and so gets a higher level one, he has to be dressed up. The Decorations are presented by a number of high-profile athletes (and the new Prime Minister). President Macron cherry-picks the likes of Léon Marchand and Aurélie Aubert.

One of the Portal brothers (red hat) – we saw him win one of those medals!

The Lebrun brothers (with glasses) – table tennis champions

Stéphane Houdet, the wheelchair tennisman we saw play at Roland Garros stadium!

For the Decoration part, we’re already back home and watch it on TV (front-row seats!). The athletes party into the night.

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July 14 is the French national holiday, known in the English-speaking world as Bastille Day. The Bastille was a fort meant to defend the Porte Saint Antoine on the east side of the Charles V city wall, and it was stormed and taken by the people on July 14, 1789 and later demolished.
The Storming of the Bastille is commemorated on July 14 since 1880.

In Paris, the celebrations of the 14-juillet, as it is called in French, start on the night before with the Bal des pompiers (the fire-fighters ball) held in the city’s various fire stations. In other French towns, it is either the Bal des pompiers, or the Bal Populaire (the people’s ball), often organized just outside the local town hall. Some towns have their fireworks on July 13, others on July 14.

In Paris, the day begins with the famous parade on the Champs Élysées that is traditionally opened with a fly-over by the Patrouille de France in the national colors bleu-blanc-rouge.

Then the president descends the avenue, accompanied by the Garde Républicaine, and takes place on the platform installed on the place de la Concorde, where he watches the parade with the government, members of the national assembly and the senate, assorted dignitaries and guests.

The parade descends from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde. It is composed of military units on foot, on various motorized vehicles, on horseback, and in the air. The Foreign Legion marches in last place because their step is slowest.
The loudest applause from the spectators along the avenue is always for the firefighters who close the parade with all their different vehicles, for the Paris firefighters are part of the military. (They were founded by Napoléon Bonaparte after a fire broke out during a reception at the Austrian Embassy in 1810 during which around a hundred people died.)

During the day, the public has the occasion to meet the military, notably on the Esplanade des Invalides between the Dome des Invalides and the Seine river, where l’Armée de Terre (the army), l’Armée de l’air (the air force) and la Marine (the navy) are represented.