Well i was there and it's always a pleasure to share some insight !
The weather was just perfect and sunny (it was terrible until yesterday) and a huge crowd gathered at the Arc de Triomphe and the Champs Elysées from 4pm. People were quite cheerful, as always mainly tourists and some Brits were happily surprised to know that their Head of State was coming to town. France will not be France without some hangry Parisians quite pissed to be unable to reach their closed metro stations (let's face it, the traffic was a nightmare, more than usual, due to the visit). C'est la vie !
Anyway the level of protocol was higher than usual, with a full State Welcome at the Arc de Triomphe. At 5pm HM arrived, with her very own Bentley, welcomed by President Hollande. As you may know France doesn't have a First Lady anymore so the Duke was escorted by the all but glamorous Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius.
My first impression of the Queen, apart her delicious pink outfit, was how frail and petite she looked, she had even some difficulties to walk sometimes (maybe due to the pavement). But her legendary smile was still there. The Welcome Ceremony lasted around 20 minutes, with hymns and troop review. For once President Hollande was not booed, wich is always a plus ...
The climax was of course the state motorcade down the Champs Elysées with the horsemen of the Republican guard : Hugue disappointment as the car of the President and the Queen was not open, unlike the previous visits, so we had just a tiny glimpse of the Sovereign. Quite gutted by this fact, i decided to follow HM to the Elysée palace, hoping for a better view.
I joined a tiny crowd just outside the palace. For the non Parisians, the Elysée Palace is quite a discreet building opening on a not so large street, so the point of view was just perfect. Around 6.30 pm the gates opened and the familiar Bentley went out just in front of us, the Queen and the Duke waving and smiling broadly : it was quite a special moment. Then the royal Party was driven to the British Embassy, just some meters from the Elysee Palace, where a Garden Party was waiting for them.
