Emmanuel Macron attends Bastille Day military parade in Paris amid growing discontent after disastrous French elections
French president Emmanuel Macron was today seen attending a military parade in Paris in honour of Bastille Day, amid growing political resentment following the shock election results earlier this month.
Celebrations for this year's Bastille Day, the 235th anniversary of revolutionaries stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in Paris, heralding the start of the French Revolution and the end of the monarchy, were compounded with the lighting of the Olympic torch.
Some 4,000 people and 162 horses marched in the tightly choreographed show, among them units that served in NATO missions in eastern Europe, against Islamic extremists in the Sahel, protecting French territories in the South Pacific and global shipping corridors.
The ornamental uniforms are rich in symbolism - most notably those of the French Foreign Legion sappers, with long beards, leather aprons and axes from their original role as route-clearers for advancing armies.
Overhead, 65 aircraft will fly in formations, including a British Typhoon fighter alongside French Mirages and Rafales, rescue helicopters and aircraft used in missions from Afghanistan to Mali or international drug busts.
President Emmanuel Macron kicked Sunday's events off with a review of the troops, followed by a performance of the Marseillaise, France's national anthem.
French president Emmanuel Macron (pictured) was today seen attending a military parade in Paris in honour of Bastille Day
Bastille Day is the celebration of revolutionaries storming the Bastille fortress and prison in Paris, heralding the start of the French Revolution and the end of the monarchy
The numbers are scaled back compared with previous years, because of Olympics security measures
The numbers are scaled back compared with previous years, because of Olympics security measures. Around 130,000 police are deployed around France for the holiday weekend.
The parade will wrap up with the arrival of the flame, escorted by riders on horseback, 25 torchbearers, and cadets forming the shapes of the Olympic rings. The main torchbearer is Colonel Thibault Vallette, equestrian gold medalist in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Usually, the parade travels from the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe to the Concorde plaza, where France's last king and queen were beheaded.
This year, Concorde has been transformed into a huge Olympic venue for breakdancing, skateboarding and BMX. So the parade route headed to the Bois de Boulogne park on the city's edge instead.
Olympic venue construction around the Eiffel Tower means spectators can't gather beneath the monument to watch its annual fireworks show, either.
After its Bastille Day appearance, the torch relay will swing by Notre Dame Cathedral, the historic Sorbonne university and the Louvre Museum before heading to other Paris landmarks Monday.
This year's Bastille Day offers Macron a moment of distraction from the political turmoil he unleashed with snap elections that weakened his pro-business centrist party and his presidency.
The result left a deadlocked parliament with no one clearly in charge. The prime minister could leave office within days, while the left-wing alliance that won the most seats is struggling to agree on a proposed replacement.
This year's Bastille Day offers Macron a moment of distraction from the political turmoil he unleashed with snap elections that weakened his pro-business centrist party
People react after the second round of the French legislative elections results at Place de la Republique in Paris, France, 7 July 2024
The European Union's second largest economy, a nuclear-armed G7 power and permanent member of the UN Security Council, is rudderless
With government in limbo and Macron barred by the constitution from calling fresh elections for at least 12 months, far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen is eyeing the 2027 campaign with relish
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is hanging on as caretaker head of government but the centrist has reportedly fallen out with Macron and is now focusing on his own future, taking charge of his reduced party in parliament.
Other figures are mobilising with an eye on the 2027 presidential race, but there is little sign of a majority emerging from parliament, split between three camps.
With government in limbo and Macron barred by the constitution from calling fresh elections for at least 12 months, far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen is eyeing the 2027 campaign with relish.
Meanwhile, a rapidly cobbled-together left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front (NFP), now has the most MPs but no outright majority and no clear candidate for PM.
A vandalised bus stop as rioters clash with riot police at Place de la Republique during a protest over the legislative election results, on July 8, 2024
Paris erupted in riots following the release of the final results of the election
Firebrand hardliner Jean-Luc Melenchon and his France Unbowed (LFI) party have alienated many even on the left and would be rejected by the centre and right.
But LFI represents a large chunk of the NFP and, along with some greens and communists, had been touting Huguette Bello, the 73-year-old former communist and president of the regional council on Reunion in the Indian Ocean, as premier.
But on Sunday she declined the role, saying that there was no consensus behind her candidacy, notably because of opposition from the centre-left Socialist Party, and that she wanted the NFP to agree to another name quickly.
The European Union's second largest economy, a nuclear-armed G7 power and permanent member of the UN Security Council, is thus rudderless, a troubling situation for markets and France's allies alike.
