Story highlights Security was tight as US President Donald Trump marked Bastille Day

US aircraft participated in the flyover over Paris

Paris (CNN) France treated President Donald Trump to an elaborate military display on Friday, a strategic show of friendship by the new leader here who hopes to elevate his country's global standing by flattering his US counterpart.

Thousands of French troops paraded down the Champs-Élysées in a dramatic show of pageantry to mark the storming of the Bastille military prison in 1789, a turning point in the French Revolution.

Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron reviewed the procession side-by-side from a stand at the Place de la Concorde, appearing in periodic and friendly conversation during the two-hour spectacle, which included 241 horses, 63 airplanes and 29 helicopters all advancing down and above the tree-lined avenue.

They shared another extended handshake as they parted ways, each man gripping the other's arm as they paced the cobblestones of the stately plaza.

This year, the celebration is also meant to commemorate the centennial of US entry into World War I, hence Macron's invitation to Trump to attend.

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