July 14 was Revolution Day. It is a national holiday, a day when the whole city comes alive with festivities, starting the day before with a party organized by firefighters (the fire brigade in Paris is part of the army), followed on the day by a parade by the army, an air show, and finally a concert and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower.
I have been living in France for 20 years now, but my patriotism for France is not that deep, I am not interested in military affairs, and I would like to see fireworks, but it’s hot and crowded and late at night ……, so I have been through all the Revolution Day events. But this year I changed my mind and decided to go to the events that I could comfortably attend while passing on the major events!
This year’s Revolution Day was Friday. First of all, I visited the rehearsal of the ceremony that took place earlier in the week. The ceremony was held from 5:00 to 8:00 a.m., so I quickly got ready in the morning and went to the Place de la Concorde.
Many buses carrying the participants of the ceremony were lined up around the venue, and the area was heavily guarded. There were almost no visitors like me, so I watched the VIP seats where the president was seated and the singing rehearsal from a distance. There was a spectator’s area for the general public to sit in.
The next party we went to was the one on the eve of Revolution Day. I had heard that the party organized by the firefighters was terribly crowded, so I went to the party organized by the city hall of the 3rd arrondissement in my neighborhood, which started at 7:00 pm. The DJs, who seemed to be from the city office, took turns playing, and the atmosphere was very relaxing.
When the sun had completely set, I took a peek at the firefighter organizer and was overwhelmed by the number of people, people, people, more people than I had expected! I can’t even imagine how long we had to wait to get inside the venue. I can’t imagine how long you have to wait to get inside the venue. I even encountered some cute girls talking to the firefighters at the entrance, trying to get in without getting in line, which made me giggle.
Even if waiting in line is a hassle, once you get in, the firefighters, who are popular in Paris as sexy and handsome machos, will entertain you with DJ, food and drink service, and dancing together (sometimes they even take off their shirts on stage to show off their well-trained bodies!) ), and so on until the morning. But I was an early riser, so I went home quickly.
The next day is the Revolutionary Day. I went to the Pont Neuf bridge to see if I could get a good view of the air show from a distance without going to the Champs-Elysées, and I was able to see the air show from a distance when the planes were flying. After a while, the air show started, and I could see the blue, white, and red smoke of the French flag coming out of the plane! Then we moved to the 1st arrondissement of Paris in front of the City Hall. Here we visited the navy exhibition.
We then headed to the Champs-Elysées, where the military parade was over, to see the streets with the flags flying, and then to the Invalides. There is a military museum here, and the garden was quite crowded with military helicopters, trucks, fire trucks, and other military vehicles all gathered in one place, and although they do not move, they let us test drive them.
Firefighters demonstrated how to respond to a household fire caused by a frying oil ignition, and there was also a photo opportunity with ERIS, the masked members of the prison’s security force.
The work of the military is very diverse, but this was an opportunity to talk directly with members of the military. As was the case at the Navy exhibit in front of City Hall, young children could be seen here and there eagerly asking questions.
The military museum was also open to the public free of charge, so I went inside for the first time and saw the huge Napoleon’s tomb, which was beyond my imagination.
Due to major riots throughout France before Revolution Day, some events were canceled in various parts of France, but in Paris, the events were almost the same as usual, although security was tightened in the city. It was a joy to see people with flags in their hair, wearing T-shirts in the colors of the national flag, and riding the metro with flags in their hands.
This is the first time I have seen a Revolution Day event in real life, and I was very satisfied with the few days I spent there, seeing parts of the event that are not often covered in the media and harvesting more than I expected.
© Source travel watch
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