The Olympics will shake up the traditional July 14 parade on the Champs Élysées.
For the first time, it will be relocated to Avenue Foch, with a unique aerial parade.
A TF1 team was able to board a reconnaissance flight.
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July 14: the parade
They have thousands of flight hours under their belt. But this Monday afternoon, they too discovered the new route. The Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games will change the habits of Air Force pilots. Every summer, they participate in the traditional July 14 parade on the Champs Élysées in Paris. But this time, the parade was relocated a little further west of the capital, to Avenue Foch.
During the national holiday in a little less than a month, 22 helicopters, similar to the one in which a team from TF1’s 20H embarks in the report to be found at the top of this article, as well as 45 planes, will meet east of Paris before reaching the parade location. Avenue Foch is very close to the Champs-Élysées, blocked by the installations for the Olympic events. But despite this proximity, this modification has consequences for military personnel in planes.
“The big change is that, until now, all the parades took place from west to east with the La Défense arch and the Arc de Triomphe“, specifies Captain Jimmy, Fennec helicopter pilot. On this new axis, we have to get to grips with other landmarks. The pilots thus position themselves in relation to the Telecom tower. When approaching the capital, you have to aim correctly. Station de l’Est, Gare du Nord, Eiffel Tower… Paris passes before our feet. Once past the Arc de Triomphe, here is Avenue Foch.We try to be in a straight line on the right axis, that’s what’s the hardestexplains Commander Quentin, Rafale pilot. However, in the end, we have what we need, and with the Rafale system, it should work.“
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On this route, which is shorter than usual, fewer troops on foot will be able to march to the Porte Dauphine. There will be no armored vehicles either. However, this is not the first time that the parade has taken place outside the Champs-Élysées. Indeed, before the First World War, it was held on racecourses, such as the Longchamp racecourse. A few decades later, this time it will take place on the Place de la Bastille. Finally, during the Covid-19 pandemic, he confined himself to Place de la Concorde, which this time became… an Olympic stadium.
