Which western world leaders are in Paris for either Bastille Day or the Mediterranean Union summit?
Many of the 44 leaders who came to Paris for the Mediterranean Union summit will make their excuses and leave before the 14 July spectacle. Those who stay may enjoy a little booklet to help them spot the uniforms of the various French troops who will be marching down the Champs Elysees. I know it is the sort of thing I would have not only pored over, but memorised as a ten-year-old. The cloaked and heavily armed amphibious troops of the First Regiment of Spahis, and the bearded Sappers of the Foreign Legion would have been my favourites. This sort of march-past is extremely rare in Europe, and the only countries in this neck of the woods who mount such displays would be the Turks and the Russians. But of course the French are particularly concerned with demonstrating that they are still a major power in their own right. President Sarkozy was cock-a-hoop at the end of the meeting. He said his idea and initiative was “an extraordinary concept, and extraordinary gamble”. He had asked the
Many of the 44 leaders who came to Paris for the Mediterranean Union summit … Union in the first place, it’s true the first ever summit in Paris this … to clean up the Med by 2020 and make it the cleanest sea in the world. … All that said, the amusing part about your blog item was the Bastille Day March-past … Sources: www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/2008/07/many_of_the_44_leaders.
