France’s unconventional Bastille Day festivities served up two tales of a crisis: at one end, a celebration of the workers on the front line of the coronavirus pandemic, and at the other, an excoriation of the policies that left the country’s cherished health care system unprepared for its onslaught.

As French President Emmanuel Macron rode into Place de la Concorde on Tuesday, on board an open-top military jeep to the tune of the Marseillaise, a bizarre incident breached the rigid protocol of this year’s pared-down Bastille Day celebrations, dedicated to the workers on the front line of the Covid-19 battle.