Bastille day

 A day full of things that go bang. As it was Bastille Day and a holiday the French put on a display for us. First the school of Cavalry, then the Armour Museum, then some fireworks. Happiness filled.

The cadets made their claim for fame when the German advance in 1940 brought them to the banks of the Loire, just days before the armistice was signed. They put up a staunch defence of the various crossing sites around Saumur, before withdrawing south. There is a school of cavalry and a Staff College in Saumur still.

Cavalry cadets doing stuff on horses. Why?

The band played several times during the day. Very hot in those uniforms!

Bum notes are rather obvious and there were a few of them...

The cadets demonstrated a bit of hand to hand combat for us all. Various scenarios were played out but they were a bit too theatrical.

Then it was the parade of armoured vehicles. As cav are now tank or recce units, there was a good number, and many runners from the Armoured Museum were included.

I won't load the 50 pics/videos. 😁

T-72 (or T-64?) as used by botth sides in Ukraine. 

Modern French Jaguar IFV. Look at the size of it! Bigger than their MBT.

Lower ranks sometimes use wargames for tactical training, and I noticed a copy of A Distant Plain on a table too.

Early WW2 French Char 1b

But of course it's the fireworks you are interested in n'cest pas?

Originally Napoleon's Bridge, but now the Bridge of the Cadet's since they blew it up in 1940. (To be fair, the Wehrmarkt was trying to cross it.)

They take their store security seriously here