Olympic fever is rising as Paris prepares to welcome the Olympic flame on 26 July 2024. The City of Light will be showing off some of its finest sights as the Games get underway. Here’s a round-up.
1. The Seine
The Seine is deeply embedded in Paris’s soul, as far back as the 3rd century when the city first started to grow on the mid-river island trading centre that is Ile de la Cité, the cradle of Notre Dame. What’s more, the sinuous waterway is used to describe iconic parts of the city, such as the historic and artistic Left Bank, while its bridges are captured in the public imagination forever by in paintings, pop songs and poetry.
For the coming Olympics then, the River Seine will be at the centre of everything, hosting a unique opening ceremony taking place on a riverboat parade that will see 160 boats set off on a 6-kilomtre route from Pont d’Austerlitz, passing sights such as Notre Dame, the Louvre and the Champs de Mars, to their final destination at Pont d’Iéna, by the Trocadéro. The free, public ceremony means 600,000 spectators will be able to watch in person, 10 times more than stadium capacity.
The river is also due to host other events such as the start and end of the Olympic marathon swim at a pontoon beneath Pont Alexandre III – an Art Nouveau masterpiece that will also witness the road cycling time trials and triathlon. Attendance is free.
2. The Eiffel Tower
The most famous monument not just in Paris, but probably the world, the Eiffel Tower will welcome beach volleyball and Paralympic blind football in a temporary venue in the Parc du Champs de Mars. Notably the iron giant will be open every day during the Olympics except 25 and 26 July, with timed tickets and views over Olympic events on offer from its upper levels – if you have good eyesight.
The tower will also take part in the iconic sporting event in another – more material and symbolic – way. Preserved pieces of the tower removed during past renovations have been melted down and embedded into this year’s medals in the form of an 18g hexagon, the shape associated with France. So every medal winner will take a little piece of the Eiffel Tower away with them, close to their heart.
3. The Champs de Mars
There can be fewer places in the French capital that conjure a sheer sense of being in France, than the afore-mentioned Champs de Mars, a formal military parade ground with majestic grassy slopes leading the eye to the Eiffel Tower. The temporary arena there will not only host volleyball and blind football, but Olympic judo, wrestling (freestyle and Greco-Roman), Paralympic wheelchair rugby and para-judo.
4. Montmartre
The steeply inclined, quaint neighbourhood of Montmartre will be recognisable to some as the site of the Sacré-Cœur Basilica, a brilliant-white church whose 300 steps, on top of a hill named for Martyrs, will tell you just how hard the road cyclists who will end their Olympic race here will find it. Gruelling pavés (cobblestones) and a gradient averaging 6.5% should slow the peloton down just enough to give spectators a chance to cheer. Free to access, but you might have to save your spot early.
5. Château de Versailles
Little can prepare you for the magnificence of Versailles, whether it’s the vast and elegant 17th century palace fit for a series of Kings, or the breath-taking beauty of the formal gardens.
Once a humble lodge 20 km outside Paris with a hunting ground teeming with boar and deer, Versailles 2024 is the perfect genteel setting for the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events (cross-country, dressage and show jumping) that will be held there in outdoor arenas, with stunning vistas taking in the Grand Canal and beyond.
