Bordeaux, 14 July 2017 – Part 2.

Bordeaux, 14 July 2017. Part 2, a bit later than planned.

The important national holiday in France was commemorated in Bordeaux by a formal military parade on the Quai des Chartons, while the city was out in its tens of thousands. These are a few of the pictures I took. I wasn’t early enough to be at the front of the main event. Many citations were read, medals awarded and not just to the military but to members of the fire service and police.

I wasn’t sure that a picnic was a good idea on the rather threadbare grass possibly coated with who knows what.

A couple of them did succumb to the heat, which was 30ºC during the two hours or so they were standing there. Or, as in the case of those below, sitting in full ceremonial uniform.

After the presentations, there was a kind of drive by and march past.

After the event, local bikers and those in uniform were seen exchanging words on the merits of their various mounts – these were customs men with BMW’s – and they nicely let children sit on them and have their pictures taken by mum and dad.