On Tuesday, July 14th, the Promenade des Anglais was abuzz with celebrations. The national holiday commemorating the Storming of the Bastille was marked by a military parade featuring various branches of the armed forces. Despite the scorching heat, the crowd gathered along the Promenade to watch the military parade.
At 5:30 PM, divisions from the French Navy, Air Force, Gendarmerie, as well as the National and Municipal Police of Nice, along with the Firefighters, took their places facing the stands set up in front of the Centenary Monument.
At 6:00 PM, after standing at attention for thirty minutes, the soldiers saluted Deputy-Mayor Christian Estrosi, Mr. Prefect Colrat, and the Deputy and President of the Departmental Council of the Alpes-Maritimes, Eric Ciotti, along with the Departmental Military Delegate of the Alpes-Maritimes, Colonel Marchand. They all attended to present decorations to several soldiers.
After the medal ceremony, at 6:30 PM, the parade began with all branches of the armed services present, along with their officers, accompanied by the music and rhythm of the 40 musicians from the Nice Fire Brigade. They were followed by motorized divisions of the Gendarmerie and both municipal and national police forces, along with several firefighting vehicles and vintage models from World War II driven by veterans. During the parade, three Alphajets flew over the Promenade des Anglais, making Nice one of the few cities to have an aerial display for the national holiday this year.
For Jacques Matteran, a veteran of the Algerian War, attending the parade is important; “Since the end of the war, I come every year. It’s a national pride, and we need to encourage young people to patriotism with such ceremonies. It’s a way to pay homage to and respect our country.”
The festivities continued from 9:30 PM to midnight, with a grand free evening party, the PROM’ PARTY, which took place along the Promenade des Anglais. It featured five stages with various music groups and a grand fireworks display at 10 PM.
