France welcomes its national holiday with the glow of the Olympic flame and the gloom about its future governance after the snap election. The celebrations will take place under unprecedented security.
The French national holiday finds Paris in feverish preparations for the Olympics, which begin in just 12 days, BNR recalls.
The pearl of the festive program is the Olympic flame, which will be welcomed in the heart of Paris at noon, and its two-day procession around the city will be accompanied by festive animations.
130,000 policemen have been mobilized for the smooth running of the holiday in the country, 11,000 of them in the capital alone, and many have lost their summer vacation. The traditional military parade has a changed route and a reduced format: 4,000 infantrymen in the center of the capital, 45 planes and helicopters in the sky.
There will also be fewer guests in the tribune around President Emmanuel Macron, whose coalition was defeated by the left in early elections a week ago, there is still no clear candidate for prime minister, and the political class is irreconcilably divided.