Bastille Day Parade - Complete

I didn't sleep a wink last night for reasons I'll not get into so I headed out shortly after 6:00 am for the Champs Elysees to find a prime spot to watch and take pictures of the Bastille Day military parade. Everyone told me to go early so indeed I went early since it started at about 10 ish. And I did get a pretty good spot although now that I know the drill I would do it much differently and I'm sure I could find an even better spot.

Security was extremely tight since President Sarkozy reviews his troops. The security system they had in place was actually quite good. They had a steel barrier up the entire length of the street then about 6 feet in they had another steel barrier with cross sections tying it all together ... also the entire length of the street ... and nobody was allowed into this area. They then had yet another steel barrier about 12-15 feet back and sections that were about 20 meters long ... in each section there were a number of security personnel. I saw a man with his young child in this area and at first I thought you needed a ticket to get into these areas. I went and asked and the guard welcomed me into the area but I had to go through a very thorough search and believe me it was thorough ... they checked everything in my camera bag, my fanny sack, my pockets, take my shoes off ... no water or other liquids were allowed and after all this I wasn't allowed to bring my camera bag into the area even though they did search it. I grabbed all my camera equipment and there were just the three of us for quite some time. Eventually it did fill up but I was well situated right at the front of the line and could everything fairly well. Now there are trees and lamp posts etc that get in the way of pictures and those damn barriers but all things considered you would be hard pressed to find a better position.

I did make some mistakes. It is not like a North American parade where everyone starts in the same location. Slowly all these buses arrive and let out regiment after regiment who line the entire Elysees. This allows room for Sarkozy to inspect the troops but I ended up behind the troops instead of in front of them and wished I was across the street. At some point they all march out into the centre of the street and walk down the Champs Elysees to the viewing stand. Since I was only about a third the way down I missed two thirds of the regiments and if I ever did it again ( which is unlikely ) I'd get a spot closer to the viewing stand on Place Concorde rather than the Arc de Triomphe where I was located. But I did catch all the military hardware and some troops and it was pretty impressive none the less. AND of course the fly over by the airplanes at the beginning and the helicopters at the end could be seen by everyone. The two pictures I start this blog with above are two of my best on the entire trip.

I've never been to a military parade so I don't know whether this was a good one or an average one but it was pretty darn impressive to me. I thought the French did a great job. Lots of music, impeccably dressed soldiers in full formal garb, swords and guns galore, precise formations, some bad ass soldiers ( check out the picture above ) and lots and lots of tanks and other military apparatus, etc. And extremely noisy to boot.

All in all it was a pretty good morning although I would do it very different next time. 

Life is good ... enjoy

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