Today, 14th July is the National day in France. It is formally called La Fête Nationale (The National Celebration) and commonly Le quatorze juillet (the fourteenth of July).
It commemorates anniversary of the Fête de la Fédération which first held on 14 July 1790 - a huge feast to celebrate the uprising of the short-lived constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of the French Revolution. It also represents the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille on 14 July 1789. The storming of the Bastille fortress-prison was seen as a symbol of the uprising of the modern nation and of the reconciliation of all the French inside the constitutional monarchy which preceded the First Republic, during the French Revolution. The military parade which is the oldest and largest in Europe is held every year on the 14 July on avenue Champs-Élysées in Paris. I was privileged to watch the 2012 parade....
The parade featured 66 aircrafts, 4,950 personnel, 16 dogs, 241 horses, 450 vehicles including 82 motorcycles and 32 helicopters. It was a show to behold!
More pictures when you continue
Getting ready for parade
The horses
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