Hollande oversees first Bastille Day as president
Associated Press, Paris | World | Sat, July 14 2012, 5:06 PM
French President Francois Hollande, center, alongside French Chief Staff Admiral Edouard Guillaud review the troops during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs Elysees avenue, Paris, on Saturday. (AP/Jacques Brinon)
President Francois Hollande is reviewing the troops at his first Bastille Day celebrations as French leader.
Under an overcast sky, the pomp of Saturday's festivities began with bagpipes, dressage and several renditions of the Marseillaise national anthem.
The sun struggled to sine through, but the weather was a vast improvement on Hollande's last trip down Paris' famed Champs-Elysees Avenue. Pouring rain soaked suit and clouded his glasses on the day of his inauguration.
A family feud involving Hollande's current partner, his former partner, his son and an apparently vindictive tweet has also clouded the day. The country was waiting for his response to the latest episode in an interview later.
Bastille Day marks the July 14, 1789, storming of the Bastille prison that helped spark the French Revolution.
