Paris, July 15 - Others may have wilted but not India's 77-year-old Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who valiantly stood next to French President Nicolas Sarkozy through much of the two-hour Bastille Day parade and then after it was over decided to abandon his carcade to walk to his hotel.

After the rains of the previous week, Paris was warm as it celebrated its National Day Tuesday and many people lined up on either side of the Champs Elysees were seen looking for shade and a place to rest their legs. Manmohan Singh, however, seemed quite unaffected by the heat and the length of the ceremony.

After it wound to a close, he abandoned all formality and simply walked across the vast Place de la Concorde square to the Hotel de Crillon.

*-*

Security, what's that?

A cyclist arguing with security personnel on the main boulevard where the National Day parade has just gotten over and all the dignitaries are yet to leave. Then actually winning the argument to get back on her cycle and go her way! Now that's something we are unlikely to see at a Republic Day parade in India.