In pictures: Bastille Day parade

France has been celebrating Bastille Day with the traditional military parade in the heart of Paris.

President Jacques Chirac oversaw the display of pomp and fanfare in the Champs-Elysees.

Some 3,000 soldiers - including members of the world-famous French Foreign Legion - marched past crowds of onlookers.

Leclerc tanks joined the parade for the first time since 2003.

Fighter jets laid a trail of blue, white and red smoke over the Arc de Triomphe.

The events mark the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille prison in 1789, which launched the French Revolution.

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