Firemen, Swifts, Revelry

A parade of firmen with saucepan helmets assembles in the Champs Elysee and marches toward the Arc de Triomphe to military music. Two fire engines, their ladders extend half way up the archway, provide a guard of honour. A huge tricolour hangs beneath the arch. The firemen stand to attention as the brass band plays.


Swifts dive and shriek,above the traffic where Rue Galilee biscts Avenue Marceau.

Three jolly men laugh and drink Champagne at a table outside the boulangerie on the corner. An hour later they are still there, laughing even louder at jokes they share with no one else. They are joined by a fourth man and another bottle of Champagne.