Hello and goodbye from Paris. By the time you read this, I will be on a plane back to the USA after a brief detour in Paris to attend the 2024 Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
What I Did During My Brief Stay In Paris For Olympics Opening Ceremony
As I mentioned yesterday, a very generous friend offered me a ticket to the spectator stands on the Left Bank for the Opening Ceremony and I thought it would be the sort of once-in-a-lifetime thing that I should take advantage of.
Plus, I wasn’t far away.
I was in Morocco this week (I’ll share details about that trip in due time) and I was thankful that there are no less than seven flights per day between Paris and Marrakesch, once part of the French Colonial Empire.
Getting to Paris proved no issue and I had no return ticket anyway from Marrakesh, as I was holding out for last-minute award space. Problem solved. I booked a ticket on Royal Air Maroc to Paris Orly and it cost only $143…had I been willing to get up at the crack of dawn, I could have flown Transavia for $53.
Security was tight across Paris, but the city was really quiet. When I took my wife here on a date night a couple of summers ago, it was absolutely packed. Not this week. Yes, there are a lot of visitors in town for the Olympics, but “regular” tourists have gone elsewhere. It was actually quite pleasant.
While many hotels in Paris were already booked (including the Hyatt Paris Madeleine literally while I was in the process of booking it), I got to try my first Mr. and Mrs. Smith property, a hotel called Le Wallace Hôtel & Bar.
The room felt like a college dorm room, but I was alone and for €170 it worked. Another reason I chose the hotel is because it was in the 15th arrondissement, which made it quite easy to walk to my assigned stand for the Opening Ceremony.
Ah yes, the Opening Ceremony.
Security was tight, with several checkpoints along the way.
It did not sprinkle. It did not rain. No, it poured. I had to chuckle as I sat there for three hours absolutely soaked…
All that planning for the most spectacular Opening Ceremony ever was dashed by Mother Nature.
But even so, it was still thrilling to be there and a lot of fun to see the various teams paraded along the Seine.
I prefer ancient hymns to anything written in the last 100 years, so the musical performances were not all that to my liking, but it was nice to see Celine Dion back (not that I could see her…but I did hear her). The French national anthem performance was spectacular:
The hot air balloon thing at the end was a nice touch, but I was so wet by that time that I was already walking back to my hotel.
After a warm shower and hot cup of tea, I went around the corner to a little kebap place for a midnight dinner.
My dessert was a ripe peach from a nearby grocery store. The fruit is always better in Europe.
Nothing like schwarama and falafel when you have not eaten all day!
As an aside, I also found a great coffee place called Cafe Nuances.
But just a few hours later, with the rain still falling hard, I was on my way to the airport once again to fly home to LA.
So was it worthwhile? Considering I was only three hours away, the answer is yes. The rain really dampened the experience, but there was still something so special about it and I was very grateful to have attended.
It’s oddly a great time to visit Paris. Hotels have jacked-up prices, but the city is not crowded. That’s really something you do not typically see in July.
Next, I’ll share a photo essay of my stay.
The brief parts I saw looked like a total shitshow. Why anyone would be entertained in a crowded, miserable set of stands watching polesmokers dance around is beyond me. But then again, unlike you Matthew, I have standards.
I enjoyed what I saw of the opening ceremonies, but it seemed like it was made for a TV audience. Aside from seeing the boats go by, could you really tell what else was going on?