July 17, 2024 to July 27, 2024
Let the Games Begin
With the exception of popular tourist areas, Paris is usually pretty quiet in July and August. These are the months that the French take their summer holidays, which usually last 3-4 weeks. It is the required by law for most French workers and they, like many Europeans, take advantage of the break and leave home on what I would call a real vacation. Throughout my neighborhood, signs are posted on storefront windows indicating when the store will reopen - in the meantime, one finds another butcher, baker, cheese shop or hairdresser.
I wasn’t quite sure what to expect during this summer of Paris Olympics, the Jeux Olympics Paris 2024, or JOP for shorthand. Certainly there would be tourists here for the games but many Parisians would flee the city, perhaps leaving earlier than normal, or for a longer period. On the other hand, shops and restaurants might stay open in anticipation of increased tourist dollars. I can’t report on how things have been throughout Paris, but will try to give you a sense of what I’ve experienced since returning from Italy almost two weeks ago.
In the buildup to the Opening Ceremonies, I experienced a Paris that was both anxious and serene, confident and worried, hopeful and resigned.
The Anxious Paris
I returned to Paris with a bit of a shaggy mop and one of my first tasks was a haircut at my local stylist, located just a few doors down from my apartment. As he snipped away, there was a loud boom and the lights flickered. “Terrorist?” he queried. He went on to say that acts of terrorism during the Olympics were a great concern among Parisians, a not unreasonable fear given the fairly recent history of terrorist attacks in Paris.
In fact, when I exited the salon about ten minutes later I encountered a large “bomb squad” type vehicle turning into my street. There was a large plume of billowing smoke at the end of the street, and the area was cordoned off while firemen worked to control the source of the explosion. A small crowd had gathered and from them I learned that it was a gas explosion, not a bomb. An accident I presumed, as there had been a lot of construction work on that corner in the previous few weeks. No harm, but a reminder that this city was a bit on edge.
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The Secure Paris
As you might know, Paris has for the most part chosen not to construct a grand arena or new venues for the games and instead is making use of outdoor spaces that feature some of the city’s most iconic sites, an actualization of the motto “Games wide open”. Since my arrival March, I have watched as temporary grandstands rose in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, at Place de la Concorde and along the Esplanade des Invalides, venues for beach volleyball, skateboarding, and archery, to name a few. Perhaps the most ambitious plan was to hold the opening ceremonies on a 6 km stretch of the Seine, ending at the Eiffel Tower/Trocadero. These concepts struck me as very French – romantic and a bit impractical, the bold act of a nation proud of its history and traditions. The challenges and logistics were enormous, none more so than maintaining a high level of security along the route of the opening ceremony.
Work in readying the city for the Olympics continued apace while I was in Italy and included mounting the Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower. This was something I want to see and photograph. My goal was to take a picture from the Trocadero – it is located directly across the Seine from the Eiffel Tower and would offer a great vantage point from which to capture the entire tower festooned with the rings. The first weekend back in Paris I headed over to the Eiffel Tower on foot, camera in hand. However, it was not long before my entire plan was thwarted by a heavy and extensive ring of security.
A ten-foot wooden wall had been erected along the entire Champs de Mars and foot traffic to the Eiffel Tower was diverted to parallel streets. This was not too bad, as vehicular traffic was virtually non-existent save for official cars and delivery vehicles. However, it was not possible to get near the river, or even cross the river, anywhere in the vicinity of the Eiffel Tower. I was diverted almost a mile down river, and after crossing the Seine I walked back towards the Trocadero, where access was also blocked. As were any vantage points from which to see the rings on the tower. By that time my feet were blistered (I’d neglected to wear socks!) so I snapped a few obstructed photos and decided to take a Velib bike share back home.
I won’t belabor my experiences using a very rapidly accelerating eBike – just suffice it to say that there was a lot of anxiety as I navigated around roadblocks as well as pedestrians and vehicles who were unsure of where/if/how they might get where they wanted to go. At one point, I stopped to ask a security guard where there was an open bridge across the Seine, he told me to just keep pedaling and when I saw an open bridge, take it. And that’s how I made it back home!
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The Serene Paris
Each day, the secure area around Olympic venues expanded, especially those close to the Seine. Subway stations as well as Velib stations were closed and cars were very scarce. Each morning I walked to my French class located near the Musée d’Orsay, about a 40 minute walk that took me near Les Invalides. I felt almost as if I was alone in Paris, me and other walkers, joggers, and cyclists. It was calm and serene, and quiet. Even busy sections of Paris were quiet – I walked home one day through Saint-Germain-des-Prés and there were fewer tourists than I’ve seen on a cold and rainy day in March. Walking was wonderful and cycling through the near-deserted streets was heavenly. Shopkeepers bemoaned the lack of customers, not only the shops and restaurants in the restricted area but also in my neighborhood – Parisians had left town and there were few tourists who wanted to shop or eat.
Things picked up a bit as the day of the opening ceremony neared. Not only were there more tourists, but you could both see and hear the heightened security. Helicopters whirred above the city each evening, and the familiar sound of police sirens could be heard throughout the day. The arson attack on TGV lines leading into Paris added to an undercurrent of anxiety, but most people I spoke with remained excited about the Opening Ceremony.
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The Opening Ceremony - July 26
I found the idea of having the parade of Olympic athletes take place on the Seine to be extraordinary and brilliant. As much as I loved the idea, however, I never intended to watch the ceremony from the banks of the river – the TV in my apartment would be just fine. I did learn that each town hall would have a large outdoor screen and a public viewing space where one could share the Olympic experience with their neighbors, something that seemed appealing. But I tossed that idea when it began to rain, staying home and dry. Hence, there are no photos to share from the Opening Ceremony, only my opinion.
There are certainly a range of opinions on the Opening Ceremony. Personally, I thought it was magnificent – magical, emotional, bizarre, and oh so French. Yes, it was boring at times and, at least on French TV, there were no close-ups of individual athletes that is typical of NBC in the States. But I thought the organizing committee reached for something unique and grand and they largely pulled it off. Chapeau!.
The Morning After - July 27
I did not have tickets for any of the events on tap for the day but was nonetheless determined to have a real Olympic experience. Toward that end, I planned a morning visit to some of the places highlighted in the Opening Ceremony. It was just past ten when I checked out a Velib and headed toward the Eiffel Tower. Paris seemed a bit hungover. The wide boulevards were empty – no cars, a few bikes, fewer walkers. Workers silently swept up piles of debris and loaded vans with unsold souvenirs. Restaurants were open, but tables were unoccupied and staff stood at the entrance greeting the few passers-by with a hopeful “Bonjour.” Some blockades remained in place near the Eiffel Tower and the bridge to the Trocadero was closed, but pedestrians were permitted to pass through many of the barriers. A few dozen tourists mingled about as I walked along the quai, all of us trying for the best camera angle of the Eiffel Tower bedecked with the Olympic rings.
After getting my fill of photos, I hopped on another Velib, crossed the Seine to the Champs-Élysées and had a magical ride down the famed street to Place de la Concorde. Free of most vehicular traffic, Paris was a city of pedestrians and cyclists, just as the Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has long envisioned. Crowds increased as I strolled through the Tuileries Gardens, now home to the Olympic Flame. By then, it had begun to rain and it was time to head home. I took one last walk down Boulevard Saint-Germain to check out potential viewing spots for the Individual Time Trial this afternoon and then enjoyed a wonderful bike ride back to my apartment.
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Individual Time Trials - July 27
The Women and Men’s Individual Time Trial took place on the exact same 32.4 km route through the streets of Paris, beginning at Les Invalides and ending at Pont Alexander III. With the exception of the start and finish points, spectators were free to view the race anywhere along the route. Because the first and last five km were essentially an out and back along the same stretch of Boulevard Saint-Germain, my strategy was to station myself where I could get a good vantage point of the riders both coming and going. I arrived early and found a spot about 1 km from the finish line – there was a street lamp whose base gave me an elevated perch and whose pole provided a place to support my back.
It was raining, a steady drizzle-to rain-to drizzle all afternoon. Crowds were thin at first, as folks huddled under umbrellas waiting for the riders to appear, but over time more and more people lined the street. The women’s event was first, 35 participants departing every 90 seconds. I don’t follow women’s cycling so was unfamiliar with most of the participants; however, the starting order with name, nationality and check-point times could be found on one of the Paris 2024 apps. It was a pace that kept you engaged but also one that left time to visit a bit with your neighbors, exchanging cycling knowledge and race details or just getting to know one another. Some folks watching had just wandered by, some were looking for a free event to pass the afternoon, while other appeared to be avid cycling fans. Whatever their reason, everyone cheered, hollered and clapped loudly for each cyclist as they passed by, maybe a bit louder if the rider was a fellow countrywoman or man.
As the race progressed and riders circled back on their way to the finish line, I observed noticeable gaps between riders, greater than the 90 seconds between start times. It was obvious that some riders had crashed on the wet roads. At one point my sister texted me that she was watching the event on TV and that one of the US riders had crashed. It turns out that Taylor Knibb crashed at least 3 times and in the process broke her Garmin and her brakes, the latter necessitating a bike change. Unbelievably, her mechanic also fell down while bringing her a new bike. Despite these difficulties, Taylor was very upbeat at the end. New to Time Trial racing (she normally competes in triathlons), she commented while laughing that she should have listened to her coach who warned her not to go too fast into the corners as falling would slow her down.
The other US rider, Chloe Dygert, is the reigning World Time Trial Champion and was ranked the top rider in the field. She also fell, but was able to recover and ultimately take the bronze medal. The gold was won by Grace Brown of Australia and Anna Henderson of Great Britain took the silver.
The men’s Individual Time Trial started shortly after the women finished. The field of 34 included many who had competed in the 2024 Tour de France, which finished just six days earlier in Nice. Names familiar to me included Wout van Aert, TdF Green Jersey winner Biniam Girmay, and reigning UCI World Time Trial Champ Remco Evenepoel of Belgium, who finished third in the TdF. The loudest cheers were for Evenepoel, with shouts of “Remco” ringing out from the crowd as he passed by. True to form, Evenepoel successfully navigated the wet roads, taking the gold medal by seven seconds over the Italian Filippo Ganna, while van Aert took the bronze medal using a bike equipped with double disc wheels.
It was a fun afternoon, sharing some Olympic excitement at an event I was somewhat familiar with. Unlike road racing where the peloton passes and is then gone, there was racing going all afternoon, albeit one racer at a time. The riders sped by in a blur, both men and women, crouched and almost immobile except for their churning legs. It was difficult to get decent photos, but I share a few in the hopes that they might convey a little of my wet and wild first day at the 2024 Olympics.
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Today's ride: 15 miles (24 km)
Total: 1,930 miles (3,106 km)
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