- Good morning Virginia !
- Good morning Ruth !
- Here I am in Paris again !
- Alors ! Just in time for the celebration !
- What celebration?
- The 60th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris. Ceremonies, a show in the open air, the big ball organised at the Bastille, the parades, the dancing on the banks of the river Seine, the giant picnic in the Luxembourg gardens ….

1944
The D –Day landings in Normandy. The terrible battles on the beaches of Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno. The first French village to be liberated, Saint Mère-Eglise.

The invigorating air of liberty blows towards Paris and by August reaches the Champ de Mars, Concorde, Ile de la Cité with Notre Dame Cathedral, and sweeps along the pavements of Paris. The Parisians have heard the ‘call’.

August 10th - strikes paralyse the city. First the railway employees, then the postmen, followed by the gendarmes and joined by the Parisian police. The conditions for the Paris uprising are set.

August 19th - the City of Lights wakes up under the sharp sound of the bullets. The Paris uprising is on the move. The German headquarters at the Prefecture de Police are attacked first, followed by fighting at the Place de la Concorde, Hotel de Ville, Notre Dame Cathedral, the Latin Quarter, the small courtyards of the University of Sorbonne, the Senate, the Luxembourg Gardens, the Hotel Majestic and the Hotel Meurice.

August 22nd - General Von Choltitz receives orders from Hitler to reduce Paris to a pile of rubble. The Grand Palais is on fire! Members of the Committee for the Liberation of Paris, the French Resistance, men, women and children, build some 600 barricades using mattresses, bathtubs, sacks of sands, paving stones; they cut trees to block the avenues and stop the movements of the German army. Strange atmosphere of combat, enthusiasm, fear, confusion, pain, joy and release draw the people of Paris together. Everybody is outside in the street! The American general Eisenhower agrees to modify the battle plans and sends troops to the rescue of Paris. The Second Division of General Leclerc, followed by the 4th Division US under the command of General Barton, enter Paris. Thousands of Parisians cry for joy, embrace the soldiers, climb on the tanks.
The Germans capitulate and the Surrender of Paris is signed at the Prefecture de Police on the 25th of August 1944.

2004
The morning sun rises on the Eiffel Tower where the French tricolor flag waves in the wind. The firemen of Paris placed it there. Just like their colleagues 60 years ago.

Paris is still a bit sleepy The clouds are uncertain whether they should stay for the celebration or travel somewhere else, looking for other horizons. The Hôtel des Invalides, which houses the tomb of Marshal Leclerc, welcomes its guests for the first ceremony of the day. Later, the Place de la Concorde is invaded by three military columns representing the 2nd Division of General Leclerc (which entered Paris first). Another ceremony takes place at the Senate, a concert is given at Notre Dame Cathedral, and in front of the Hôtel de Ville letters written by the inhabitants of Paris and relating that memorable day are read, in the presence of the French President, the Mayor of Paris, members of the French Government and numerous veterans. The orchestra of the Garde Républicaine and the choir of the Armée Française add sound to the magical scene. Patrick Rotman’s film on the Liberation of Paris is showing on the big screens, 70 vehicles of the forties parade towards the Prefecture de Police. The rain plays ‘kill-joy’ during most of the ceremony.

Another two columns, one American and one French, composed of Sherman tanks, jeeps, ambulances and trailers carrying orchestras that make the Parisians swing to the music of Glenn Miller, Charle Trenet and Ray Ventura. Vehicles and people dressed in the fashion of the forties replay scenes which took place 60 years ago and entertain passers-by. Paris turns into a huge stage where groups of people walk from one scene to the other. More than 40,000 people are gathered at the Place de la Bastille to enjoy Jérome Savary’s show in open air, followed by a popular ball. The rain is playing ‘kill-joy’ again but finally leaves us in peace and goes off to look for other horizons.

Ruth, my American friend, I myself and my camera all slept well that night - our eyes full of images and our heads full of memories of the Liberation of Paris 60 years after. I wish you could also have been here!
Virginia Dae