President Emmanuel Macron inspected French and allied units which took part in France's World War II liberation 80 years ago.
And Paris welcomed the Olympic flame to the city, less than two weeks before it hosts the Summer Games.
But behind the pomp -- itself in a reduced format while Olympic preparations blocked the traditional Champs Elysees route -- France's tense search for a government appeared to be at a stalemate.
All eyes were on the host, Macron, who last year cut a more impressive figure, hosting rising superpower India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi as they watched France's military might roll down the Champs Elysees.
There was no international star guest this year, and there were no armoured vehicles as a reduced number of troops marched down the less majestic Avenue Foch.
This month's snap elections, called by Macron to clarify France's direction after the far right sent shockwaves through the political establishment by coming first in EU polls, left the country without a parliamentary majority.
Prime Minister Gabriel Attal is hanging on as caretaker head of government but the centrist has reportedly fallen out with Macron and is now focusing on his own future, taking charge of his reduced party in parliament.
Other figures are mobilising with an eye on the 2027 presidential race, but there is little sign of a majority emerging from parliament, split between three camps.
With government in limbo and Macron barred by the constitution from calling fresh elections for at least 12 months, far-right figurehead Marine Le Pen is eyeing the 2027 campaign with relish.
Meanwhile, a rapidly cobbled-together left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front (NFP), now has the most MPs but no outright majority and no clear candidate for PM.
Firebrand hardliner Jean-Luc Melenchon and his France Unbowed (LFI) party have alienated many even on the left and would be rejected by the centre and right.
But LFI represents a large chunk of the NFP and, along with some greens and communists, had been touting Huguette Bello, the 73-year-old former communist and president of the regional council on Reunion in the Indian Ocean, as premier.
But on Sunday she declined the role, saying that there was no consensus behind her candidacy, notably because of opposition from the centre-left Socialist Party, and that she wanted the NFP to agree to another name quickly.
The European Union's second largest economy, a nuclear-armed G7 power and permanent member of the UN Security Council, is thus rudderless, a troubling situation for markets and France's allies alike.
Against this backdrop, the reduced and rerouted parade risked becoming a new symbol of drift, even with the addition of the arrival in Paris of the Olympic Torch, ahead of the July 26 to August 11 Games.
No tanks took part, and only 4,000 foot soldiers marched, down from 6,500 last year. The military fly-past saw 45 aeroplanes and 22 helicopters soar over Paris.
French Navy Rafale M fighter jets followed by a French Navy E2c Hawkeye performed a fly-over during the Bastille Day parade © Ludovic MARIN / AFPRegiments honoured on the parade included those from France's allies and former French colonies that took part in the country's 1944 World War II liberation.
The parade's final section turned to the upcoming games.
Colonel Thibault Vallette of the elite Cadre Noir de Saumur cavalry school and 2016 equestrian gold medallist at the Rio Games rode the torch down the route before relay runners were to carry it around the capital.
