The 138th Bastille Day military parade in Paris on Saturday included Japanese and Singaporean soldiers as guests of honour, joining more than 4,200 French army, air force and navy personnel, watched by a crowd of thousands lining the route on the Champs-Elysées avenue in central Paris.
But the normally well-rehearsed event included two gaffes. Two gendarmerie motorbike riders tumbled to the ground after they collided during what was intended to be a synchronised demonstration of mastery of their machines, while one pilot taking part in the traditional flypast of jets streaming the blue, white and red colours of the French flag added an extra ribbon of red alongside the blue.
But otherwise the July 14th event, attended by President Emmanuel Macron, passed off smoothly.
Bastille Day celebrates the storming of the Bastille prison during the 1789 French revolution which overturned the country's monarchy. More than 110,000 security personnel and emergency service staff are mobilised around France this weekend, both for the national holiday events on Saturday and the crowds expected to turn out on Sunday at fan zone sites and in possible street celebrations when France play Croatia in the football World Cup.