I spent about 36 hours in Paris to attend the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games and from my vantage point on the River Seine, I took many pictures.
Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony – A Photo Essay
The primary purpose of this post is simply to share photos from every nation’s delegation…despite the pouring rain, I snapped pictures of each vessel that sailed by, but also a few observations:
- It was interesting how the Olympics danced around the tensions in China.
- Both Taiwan and Hong Kong had their own teams, but Hong Kong was referred to as “Hong Kong, China” and Taiwan as “Chinese Taiwan”
- Even more interesting, Taiwan (the Republic of China) was not allowed to use its flag…instead, a generic Olympic flag was used
- The entire “Last Supper” issue came as somewhat of a surprise – that was not my first impression of watching that show, but I’ll only note that I’m glad Christianity is not an honor religion…
- Law enforcement was all over the city, literally everywhere
- I was dismayed to see tipping jars at the food concessionaries (this was for to-go food and drinks)…written in English of course
- Despite the rain, the event was unique and fresh…and the city was well-prepared
- Surprisingly, the next couple of weeks may be a good time to visit Paris and avoid the Olympics…the other “tourist” venues will not be nearly as full
The countries appeared in this order:
1. Greece
2. Refugee Olympic Team
3. Afghanistan
4. South Africa
5. Albania
6. Algeria
7. Germany
8. Andorra
9. Angola
10. Antigua and Barbada
11. Saudi Arabia
12. Argentina
13. Armenia
14. Aruba
15. Austria
16. Azerbaijan
17. Bahamas
18. Bahrain
19. Bangladesh
20. Barbados
21. Belgium
22. Belize
23. Benin
24. Bermuda
25. Bhutan
26. Bolivia
27. Bosnia and Herzegovina
28. Botswana
29. Brazil
30. Brunei
31. Bulgaria
32. Burkina Faso
33. Burundi
34. Cayman Islands
35. Cambodia
36. Cameroon
37. Canada
38. Cape Verde
39. Central African Republic
40. Chile
41. China
42. Cyprus
43. Colombia
44. Comoros
45. Republic of the Congo
46. Democratic Republic of the Congo
47. Cook Islands
48. South Korea
49. Costa Rica
50. Ivory Coast
51. Croatia
52. Cuba
53. Denmark
54. Djibouti
55. Dominican Republic
56. Dominica
57. Egypt
58. El Salvador
59. United Arab Emirates
60. Ecuador
61. Eritrea
62. Spain
63. Estonia
64. Eswatini
65. Ethiopia
66. Fiji
67. Finland
68. Gabon
69. The Gambia
70. Georgia
71. Ghana
72. Great Britain
73. Grenada
74. Guam
75. Guatemala
76. Guinea
77. Guinea-Bissau
78. Equatorial Guinea
79. Guyana
80. Haiti
81. Honduras
82. Hong Kong
83. Hungary
84. India
85. Indonesia
86. Iran
87. Iraq
88. Ireland
89. Iceland
90. Israel
91. Italy
92. Jamaica
93. Japan
94. Jordan
95. Kazakhstan
96. Kenya
97. Kyrgyzstan
98. Kiribati
99. Kosovo
100. Kuwait
101. Laos
102. Lesotho
103. Latvia
104. Lebanon
105. Liberia
106. Libya
107. Liechenstein
108. Lithuania
109. Luxembourg
110. North Macedonia
111. Madagascar
112. Malaysia
113. Malawi
114. Maldives
115. Mali
116. Malta
117. Morocco
118. Marshall Islands
119. Mauritius
120. Mauritania
121. Mexico
122. Federated States of Micronesia
123. Moldova
124. Monaco
125. Mongolia
126. Montenegro
127. Mozambique
128. Myanmar
129. Namibia
130. Nauru
131. Nepal
132. Nicaragua
133. Niger
134. Nigeria
135. Norway
136. New Zealand
137. Oman
138. Uganda
139. Uzbekistan
140. Pakistan
141. Palau
142. Palestine
143. Panama
144. Papua New Guinea
145. Paraguay
146. Netherlands
147. Peru
148. Philippines
149. Poland
150. Puerto Rico
151. Portugal
152. Qatar
153. North Korea
154. Romania
155. Rwanda
156. Saint Kitts and Nevis
157. Saint Lucia
158. San Marino
159. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
160. Solomon Islands
161. Samoa
162. American Samoa
163. Sao Tome and Principe
164. Senegal
165. Serbia
166. Seychelles
167. Sierra Leone
168. Singapore
169. Slovakia
170. Slovenia
171. Somalia
172. South Sudan
173. Sudan
174. Sri Lanka
175. Sweden
176. Switzerland
177. Suriname
178. Syria
179. Tajikistan
180. Chinese Taipei
181. Tanzania
182. Chad
183. Czech Republuc
184. Thailand
185. East Timor
186. Togo
187. Tonga
188. Trinidad and Tobago
189. Tunisia
190. Turkmenistan
191. Turkey
192. Tuvalu
193. Ukraine
194. Uruguay
195. Vanuatu
196. Venezuela
197. British Virgin Islands
198. Virgin Islands
199. Vietnam
200. Yemen
201. Zambia
202. Zimbabwe
203. Australia (2032 Olympics host)
204. United States (2028 Olympics host)
205. France (2024 Olympics host)
(No Belarus or Russia because of the war in Ukraine and dopng scandals)
“I was dismayed to see tipping jars at the food concessionaries (this was for to-go food and drinks)…written in English of course”.
Just got home from two amazing weeks in Italy with my family. Not a single place where tipping was even mentioned. There is not even a way to add a tip to your credit card bill if you wanted. I tipped people at hotels that went above and beyond to make sure my family had an amazing time but that was about it.
Now, back into the US and this morning I go to the local bakery here to get some muffins and bread. The woman that served me just grabbed the items and placed them in a paper bag. That’s all she did. At the check out I am “welcomed” with the follow screen:
“Select tip:
15% (Good)
18% (Great)
20% (Wow!)
30% (Best Service Ever!)”
Which is just one reason why I never eat out unless traveling and have no other choice.
A bit of a typo – I think you meant to say “Taiwan” but typed “Hawaiin.” Taiwan has competed as “Chinese – Taipei” for many decades. I believe this might have changed in 1984 when the PRC attended at the same time as Taiwan/ROC and the compromise was reached. Hong Kong has been competing as Hong Kong for decades, separately from the PRC.
Oh, The Russians were there. Submarine.
Oh yes, well represented by the minions. ^^
“Hawaiian and Hong Kong”, seriously?
Taiwan typically goes by “Chinese Taipei”, sometimes with a 5-point flower and other times simply with the IOC flag
The Olympics are a gargantuan waste of money, run by an ultra-corrupt organization that will not hesitate to hold these obnoxious relics of the 20th Century in countries with horrible human rights abuses. They should just build a permanent facility in one place and rotate country hosting duties if they want to continue them. Also, seeing professional athletes play, like in Tennis, is exactly what the Olympics are not supposed to be.
Did you know Papua New Guinea has the most languages with over 800?
I just watched a TV show about the budget of the Olympics. It turns out that the Paris Olympics is the cheapest Olympics in recent history at 9.7 billion USD. For comparison:
1996 Atlanta: 3.6 b
2000 Sydney: 6.9 b
2004 Athens: 16 b
2008 Beijing: 45 b (!)
2012 London: 18 b
2016 Rio: 20 b
2020 Tokyo: 32.7 b
Didn’t know Hawaii had their own team.
Taiwan did compete as Chinese Taipei. At least that’s my recollection sitting in the rain fighting other people’s umbrellas from poking me in the eye
The countries appeared in this order:
142. Palestine
Never heard of that country… Is it one of the former Soviet Union breakoffs?
Go back to school
To learn how to spell Esther?
How much did you pay for the Opening Ceremony tickets? Did you have to watch everything but the athletes on a screen??
I didn’t pay anything – a friend gave me the tickets. I actually didn’t ask how much they retail for, but I know he paid retail…