Downpour fails to dampen Bastille Day celebrations

African soldiers from countries in France's former empire marched in the annual Bastille Day parade in Paris - which ended in a near tropical downpour as storms broke over the French capital.

The holiday marks the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison in Paris by angry crowds that helped spark the French Revolution.

A total of 400 African soldiers took part in the parade, which included the more traditional appearances by the French Foreign Legion, the army, navy and air force, with a squadron of jets trailing red, white and blue smoke, flying overhead drawing a smokey French flag over the heart of the capital.

But one of the traditional Bastille Day events, a lavish garden party at the presidental palace, was cancelled as Nicolas Sarkozy's government tries to rein in runaway debts, with a government spokesman claiming it would save nearly eight-hundred-thousand euros.

The French president took part in the parade, riding down the Champs-Elysees in an open military vehicle, while his wife, singer Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, watched from the stands.


Source:
Posted Wed Jul 14 2010

(11.02.2011)