France celebrates national holiday
July 14 military parade and fireworks in Paris will be broadcast - and towns all over France will hold parties
FRANCE'S overseas territories are celebrated in this year's traditional July 14 military parade along the Champs-Elysées in Paris, which will be televised live.
The fête nationale celebrations start at 10.00 and will be followed by an evening concert and fireworks display at the Eiffel Tower.
The TV coverage of the military parade starts at 8.45 on TF1 and France 2.
Bénabar, Yannick Noah and Nolwenn Leroy are among the performers at the free concert on the Champ de Mars, organised by SOS Racisme, which starts at 18.00.
Paris's evening firework display, on the theme of Broadway musicals, will be broadcast live online at http://14juillet.paris.fr from 23.00 and will also be available on-demand to watch at a later date.
Towns and villages all over France will be celebrating the national holiday with concerts, balls and fireworks.
News coverage on ConnexionFrance.com will resume on Friday morning, and our weekly email will be sent as usual on Friday lunchtime.
Travel
The SNCF is expecting 1.5 million passengers for the long bank holiday weekend. Sweets, games, ice creams are on offer at some of the major stations.
Road monitor Bison Futé has issued an "orange" alert for Wednesday night (July 13) - meaning several hundred kilometres of traffic jams are expected, especially between 16.00 and 20.00.
Most roads return to "green" on Thursday and Friday, except in the Ile-de-France and east of the country, but the road network is "red" natiowide on Saturday as more people start their holidays.
Sunday is "orange" - and Bison Futé recommends anyone returning to a big city to avoid doing so between 17.00 and 21.00.
