Bastille is celebrated on 14th July each year in France. Every Bastille day a Parade in Paris is organized. French army showcase their parade and armors, thus giving a message to their countrymen that they are protecting them and no outer power can harm them. Lets take you to the moments of the Bastille day parade that we have captured in the form of photographs and showcased in our section Bastille day Parade.
The national holiday comes after the country was hit by terror attacks in January that killed 20 people, including the three attackers, and after an extremist beheaded his employer last month and caused an explosion that injured two people.
One spectator, Philippe Bastelisa, 55, who lives in Paris, said "it was really important that [security forces] participated in the parade, considering the situation right now and the drama of the beginning of the year.''
Another, Katy-Pauli Giraud, 58, led a group of spectators from Calais to the festivities, and called it "great'' that there was heightened protection against threats on such an important holiday.
"I'm not scared. I feel secure,'' she said.
French President Francois Hollande presided over the yearly parade on the Champs-Elysees, meeting and greeting members of the military. Alongside him was his guest of honor, Mexico's president Enrique Pena Nieto, whose government is smarting following the audacious prison break of a major drug lord.
The parade gave special recognition to the three armies, more than 10,000 soldiers, who participated in France's stepped-up security measures following the attack on the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo. For the first time, accolades also went to emergency first-responders as well as several elite units of the national police force and gendarmerie specializing in counterterror and hostage kidnappings.
Hollande additionally commemorated the 70th anniversary of France's liberation from Nazi Germany, saluting members of France's Order of Liberation. The spectacle included nearly 100 military planes and helicopters.
