First UN peacekeeping white vehicle crosses the Champs-Élysées. Image from www.lefigaro.fr

French President Sarkozy and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon both stepped down from the platform to shake hands with and thank the brave soldiers holding UN flags. Image from www.lefigaro.fr

For the French, summer holidays are more sacred and important than anything else; leisure is more alluring than work. This leisurely spirit is unique to the French. During the summer vacation, most Parisians leave the city, leaving the metropolis to tourists from around the world. In this intense summer heat, the most important political and tourist event in Paris is the French National Day military parade on the Champs-Élysées on July 14th. This has become a resource for political propaganda and the tourism industry. The annual National Day parade always attracts tens of thousands of tourists, who curiously attend this extraordinary military carnival, joyfully witnessing France's majestic and magnificent army and its impressive modern armed equipment.

This year's French National Day coincided with France's presidency of the European Union, and additionally, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Union for the Mediterranean summit was grandly held in Paris on the eve of National Day. Therefore, this year saw an especially large number of invited heads of state and guests attending the parade: the leaders of all 27 EU countries, plus the rarely gathered heads of state of the Union for the Mediterranean. Among them, Syrian President Assad was the most conspicuous (because, like the Iranian president, he is labeled by the US as a representative of an evil state; Assad's invitation also caused dissatisfaction and protests from human rights activists). Of course, what made this year's French National Day even more unusual was that the French President and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon stood together on the reviewing platform. This was because the participants were not EU troops, but rather the Blue Helmet peacekeeping forces (deployed by various countries worldwide under UN mandate) serving around the globe, participating in the French National Day parade for the first time. Under this message of paying the highest tribute to peacekeeping forces worldwide, this year's magnificent parade was notably marked by the uniform Blue Helmet troops and the procession of white armored vehicles and military trucks (bearing the abbreviation "UN" for United Nations peacekeeping). The grand procession marched past the reviewing stand, and the most dramatic moment was the precision parachute drop: paratroopers carrying the French flag, the EU flag, and the UN flag jumped from 10,000 meters above Paris and landed in front of the reviewing stand at Place de la Concorde, displaying the flags to salute the President, other heads of state, and guests. The French President and the UN Secretary-General both stepped down to shake hands with and thank these brave flag-bearing soldiers, concluding the extraordinary 2008 National Day parade.

Every National Day always ends beautifully in front of the Eiffel Tower with colorful fireworks—the greatest gift for tourism in Paris in July each year, allowing tourists to forever remember this brilliant and dazzling day. After the fireworks, folk dances organized by fire stations in various neighborhoods across the city begin.