Quatorze juillet et l'anniversaire de mon blog!

Quatorze juillet

This shot was taken in 2008 on a two-week

solo trip to Paris.  I waited for what seemed hours against

the barricades on Champs-Élysées for the procession.  

The parade was fabulous but the preparations

were even better.

It is not a coincidence that I chose this date

for the beginning of my blog six years ago.

Virginia Jones (Paris Through My Lens) guided my 

entrance to blogging and I will be forever grateful for

her help and lasting friendship.

Thank you all for your support

and comments over the past six years.

Avenue des Champs-Élysées

75008, Paris

Un defile militaire

Military Parade

Avenue des Champs Elysees

Quatorze juillet

The avenue was lined from the Arc de Triomphe to Place de la Concorde

with a display of the French military and its territories, an amazing spectacle!

Avenue des Champs Elysees

75008, Paris

Five Year Anniversary - Paris and Beyond!

Quatorze juillet

This was my first post five years ago when I started my Paris and Beyond photo blog under the guidance of Virginia Jones. In the five years of posting daily, I have met many wonderful people from around the world.  Many of those I have met in person and have traveled to faraway places to see them.  In the beginning I was not sure that I could keep up a daily post with a very full-time job and business travel.

Thank you to all who have followed me and have reached out to me.

Tomorrow I start year six....

(Merci beaucoup, Virginie!)

Avenue des Champs Elysees

75008, Paris

13 juillet - les bals des pompiers

Les bals des pompiers

The pompiers around Paris (and all of France) have celebrations

tonight and tomorrow in honor of Quatorze juillet.

Take a look here for schedules and locations.

Enjoy the party!

Les bals des pompiers

13, 14 juillet

Le Défilé Militaire - des pompiers

Les Sapeurs-Pompiers

One of many groups in the Military Parade of Quatorze Juillet...  

On the eve of the Bastille Day celebrations the pompiers have parties 

all over Paris that do not end until the sun comes up.  

All of the arrondissements have Bals des Pompiers 

and by some count it may be as many as 60 (!) in Paris and the near suburbs.

Have you been to one?

Avenue des Champs Élysées

75008, Paris

 

Quatorze Juillet! - Bastille Day

Military Parade

of Bastille Day

2008

The parade involves around 7,000 soldiers 

(5,000 on foot, the rest are crew members or cavalrymen), 

300 vehicles, 240 horses and more than 80 planes and helicopters.

And, a celebration for me as today makes 

4 years of daily photos on Paris and Beyond

without missing a day!

A special thanks to all of you who follow my blog 

and to Virginia (Paris Through My Lens) 

who helped me "birth this baby" four years ago.

Avenue des Champs Élysées

75008, Paris

 

Le Défilé Militaire

Republican Guard Cavalry Regiment

Military Parade

(quatorze juillet)

The uniforms were perfect, 

from the elegant helmets to the rich leather boots.

The horses were exquisitely groomed and trained.

There will be 250 horses in the celebrated parade on Monday

Le Défilé Militaire du quatorze Juillet

Avenue des Champs Elysées

75008, Paris

Quatorze Juillet - La Fête Nationale!

The Gates of Invalides

All of Paris is dressed in the bleu, blanc, et rouge of the French flag.  

The crowds and the traffic are impossible, 

but the pleasure of being there in the streets 

for the great national celebration is worth it.

Vive la France!

Invalides

75007, Paris

Paris and Beyond - 3 years, 1109 posts

Thank you for following, for your feedback,

and for sharing in my love for Paris (and beyond)

Champs de Mars - les chevaux

Ponies in the Park

Festivities surround Champs de Mars in July

Pony rides and picnics

Tomorrow is quatorze juillet, La Fête Nationale, 

and the third anniversary of Paris and Beyond.  

I'll take a pony ride and a picnic, svp.

Champs de Mars

75007, Paris

Avenue George V - le Quatorze Juillet

This is not a usual sight on

Avenue George V

This was at least a vehicle that I could identify

as opposed to the one below which was huge and strange

(photos taken 14 juillet 2008)

Ave George V
75008, Paris

Le quatorze juillet - La Fête Nationale

Le quatorze juillet,

a day of celebration in France and not coincidentally my second blog anniversary!

Two years ago I posted the above photo as I ventured into this daily Paris photoblog, never thinking that I would be able to manage a post every day.  Please look here for the story of how it all started and the friendship I share with Virginia (Paris Through My Lens) who helped me "birth this baby." 

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The photo above shows two French sailors preparing for the grand military parade on Avenue des Champs-Elysées.  I stood on the baricades for hours in order to have a good position to capture the excitement and emotions of the day. 

Now, I have a small oil painting created by Carol Schiff of this moment,

a treasured work of art that I enjoy daily.

Le quatorze juillet

Avenue des Champs-Elysées

75008, Paris

(on this festive day there is no nearby Métro,

bus, taxi so be prepared to walk for miles)



 

Le Quatorze Juillet!

I remember thinking that so much of France's military equipment was being paraded down the Champs Élysée that we should hope there was no immediate need on the globe for assistance. The tanks, the humvees, the trucks, the so-large-I-cannot-imagine what they ares, the horses in finery, the planes, the firetrucks... all of the personnel. The length of this wide avenue was full to overflowing. It was magnificent!

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Today is a special day for me as I started my blog one year ago today. I drove to Birmingham to see Virginia, and the two of us "birthed this baby" so its birthday would always fall on Bastille Day. I will be forever grateful to her for her guidance and wonderful sense of humor as we laughed our way through "delivery."

Thanks to all of you who read my blog and who have, through your own blogs and comments on mine, enriched this experience, sharing a bit of your world with me. I was not sure that I could post 365 days in a row, but it is now just a part of me. Merci beaucoup!