World Explorers 2011: Happy Bastille Day

A second fence between the crowd and the parade

Bastille Day celebrates the storming of the Bastille and the French revolution it is a parade held every year on the anniversary to give thanks and show respect to all the military and public services - so the army, air force, navy, fire brigade, police and ambulance services in France. Equally importantly, to me, it is my birthday - and I have always wanted to spend my birthday on the Champs Elysees - and this year - Arnol dhas made that dream come true - I am so excited - I have to keep pinching myself to believe that I am really here.

We were warned that we would have to go early to be able to see and also that it would be difficult to get the metro, so we set off to walk - we discussed the best position to locate ourselves with the monsieur behind the front desk - and set off. Luckily it was a cool morning - and a very pleasant walk - unfortunately our planned route was closed and only one bridge across the Seine was open to cross the river, right down near the Eiffel Tower - so we ended up walking for more than one and a half hours - any finally we were on the famous street in front of Louis Vuitton.

Police who searched bags

Security on the rooftops

The Greek Consul arrives (for you Joanne)

We realised that there were secure enclosed areas in front of each business on the street where we were standing - before the large public area on the other side of the street - in front of us, a group with pieces of paper - tickets maybe- or invitations - just a thought - we were just standing there - I swear - and suddenly we were swept along with a group - into the Renault enclosure - lucky break!! Our bags were searched and my hand sanitiser was confiscated, and then we headed straight to the front of the barrier - I was front row on the Champs Elysees in the Renault enclosure under a marquee and Arnold was directly behind me - don’t pinch me now - I don’t want to wake up. There was another fence about a metre in front of us. Looking up, we saw armed snipers on the roof tops across the street - and many people enjoying the view from their balconies.

Red, white and blue trails from the jets

You just have to look at the variety of military uniforms in France to realise that you are in the fashion capital of the world - very stylish!!

Great cheers for the camouflage soldiers

The parade passed for about 2 hours with every piece of military equipment imaginable - the little boys went wild when the tanks rolled along but the loudest cheers were saved for the pompiers - the fire men. At the end, we allowed the crowd to disperse while we had coffee in a little cafe down a side street, finally had brunch. We had been told that the main metro station on the Champs Elysees was closed for security and so we faced another long walk. We chatted to the waiter who told us that there was one entrance open to the Metro station, but it was down a side street behind the Arc de Triomphe - and he marked it on our map. With our new found local knowledge - we found the station easily - not many others were waiting and so we had a much easier trip back.

Don't I look cool in my fancy uniform????

We have had a sleep for a couple of hours and about 8.30 pm. we will be getting ready to go out again - the fireworks over the Eiffel Tower do not start until 11.00pm. We love this hotel, it is very small and cosy and they are so welcoming and helpful, The young monsieur who is behind the front desk today, welcomed us back and couldn’t believe that we had walked all the way to the parade. He recommended that we have dinner near the river close to the Eiffel Tower and he has phoned to make a reservation for us - fabulous service.