Vive la Revolution! France Is Throwing a Party

Swooping warplanes, axe-carrying warriors, a drone light show over the Eiffel Tower and fireworks in nearly every French town—it's Bastille Day. France celebrated its biggest holiday Monday with 7,000 people marching, on horseback, or riding armored vehicles along the cobblestones of the Champs-Elysees, the most iconic avenue in Paris. And there are plans for partying and pageantry around the country, per the AP:

• The big deal: Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison on July 14, 1789, a spark for the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy. Bastille Day has become a central moment for modern France, celebrating democratic freedoms and national pride, a mélange of revolutionary spirit and military prowess. The Paris parade beneath the Arc de Triomphe so impressed visiting President Trump in 2017 that it inspired him to stage his own parade this year.

• What stood out: The spectacle began on the ground, with French President Emmanuel Macron reviewing the troops and relighting the eternal flame beneath the Arc de Triomphe. Two riders fell from their horses near the end of the parade, and it was unclear whether anyone was hurt. Each parade uniform has a touch of symbolism. The contingent from the French Foreign Legion was eye-catching, its bearded troops wearing leather aprons and carrying axes, a reference to their original role as route clearers for advancing armies. The Paris event included flyovers by fighter jets, trailing red, white, and blue smoke. Then the evening sees a drone light show and fireworks at the Eiffel Tower that has gotten more elaborate every year.
• For 2025: Every year, France hosts a special guest for Bastille Day, and this year it's Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto representing the world's largest Muslim country. Indonesian troops, including 200 traditional drummers, marched in Monday's parade, and Indonesia is expected to confirm new purchases of Rafale fighter jets and other French military equipment during the visit.
• Among the dignitaries invited to watch is Fousseynou Samba Cissé, who rescued two babies from a burning apartment earlier this month and received a last-minute invitation in a phone call from Macron himself. "I wasn't expecting that call,'' he told online media Brut. "I feel pride.''