“Viva la revolución” is the slogan I saw in Cuba in 2001 that came to mind while watching today’s military parade in honour of the French revolution. No French president for me this time as Sarko’s already covered on this blog; instead I present you with something at least as impressive: 9 Alpha Jets painting the French Tricolore across the clear blue sky.

The main act of the National Day celebrations on July 14, commemorating the revolution of 1789, is a good oldfashioned military parade that wouldn’t be out of place in your average communist country. Call it what you like though, it is a spectacle worth visiting: executed with flair, “grandeur” and military precision. Will this be the last parade on the watch of president Jacques Chirac, here seen as he passes my lens?