Their final day here was also La Fête Nationale in France. In the English speaking world, it's referred to as Bastille Day because it falls on the date the Bastille was stormed in 1789. The French mark the day with a very large military parade down the Champs-Élysées. I thought it would be cool for Jack to see all the tanks and armoured personnel carriers driving and the troops marching down one of the most famous streets in the world. Not to mention the aircraft flying overhead.
While there were very cool moments, it was a lot of standing around and waiting. Unless you were in the stands with the dignitaries, and you could hear and see everything, it was kind of boring. It was also very crowded. We found a doorway to a movie theatre, that was elevated and in the shade, to watch the parade. We were the first ones there, but it wasn't long before we were joined by dozens of other people in this tiny space. I now understand why Lori's colleagues prefer to stay at home and watch it on TV, which is what we ended up doing. Once we got back to the apartment, we saw all the army vehicles driving down the street, parachutists landing right in front of the reviewing stand and the French Special Forces putting on a demonstration by the L'Hôtel national des Invalides.
At night there was a massive fireworks display put on at the Eiffel Tower. The parade may have been a disappointment, but the fireworks far exceeded our expectations. In fact, I would say they were the most impressive fireworks I've ever seen. They coordinated the lights on the Eiffel Tower with the fireworks. In Jacks words "that was awesome". I'm glad their final night in Paris was a hit.
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