Going to Paris during the 2024 OIympic Games is an idea that came up more than one year ago, in 2023. The original plan was to take part at the “Marathon Pour Tous”, an event in which I believed without questioning its fairness, but in the end it just proved out to offer slots mostly to the people that needed to be there, not that could be there, by completing challenges. The disappointment provoked by this failure was huge, so I will discuss more about it separate. Now, back to Paris, and to the main purpose of the article. My second visit in Paris. I didn’t know what to expect. Our idea was to experience the overall atmosphere of the Olympics, the closing of the first half of the event, on 11th of August – the Paralympics start on 26th of August. No ticket to any event bought, we preferred to be everywhere possible , and this didn’t prove to be a disappointment.
Clean Paris
Paris is a big city so we didn’t have too many expectations, considering the size of what was happening. But, in the end, we were actually amazed about what we discover: a very clean, friendly, traffic-free metropole! “Yeah, right, there was plenty of police, so how could it be different?”, might be a first thought, which can represent part of the truth, but cannot make all of it. Because in a summer period of 30+ degrees Celsius (truth being told, much cooler than Bucharest…) it looked to me pretty impossible to keep a city like Paris so clean and reasonable pollution free, sort to say… Again, I am making a parallel with Bucharest, a smaller location still, but with much more air pollution perceived. There was no smell that came out, even if some garbage was put outside and waiting for pick up.
Easy travel from Beauvais airport
The streets clean, very clean, I would say. Traffic restricted on many places, but not jammed anywhere. Transportation from Beauvais airport to city center, like a walk in the park… Short? No, not necessary, but very smooth. The ticket machines for the Aerobus where expecting us exactly after we disembarked the plane. Then, at the end of the line, in Saint Denis, volunteers guided us properly to the metro line, and then, the road to the hotel was just a mater of time. The Parisian metro is very friendly, as you don’t need to know French, or even to have travelled with this kind of transportation before to figure it out. It is not a first impression, but something consolidated from my first visit, in 2022. Then, after we accommodated and went for an initial walk we noticed the great way in which the metropole is organized at that moment. The safety is in the air, something not unquestionable in European big cities in recent years.
A tour with adidas Runners Paris, during the male official Olympic marathon!
All of the above facilitated a dream journey and a rather short holyday, but in which we walked and… ran 100 kilometers! Why run? Because we wanted to discover Paris by running also, and with my flop from “Marathon Pour Tous”, we found an alternative: an adidas Runners Paris East activity, held exactly between 10 AM and 12 PM. In the East side of the city, but, coincidentally, more or less overlapped with the boys Olympic marathon. The run itself had 16 kilometers, but we continued, me and Anca, with five more to complete a half-marathon. During the Olympic marathon, in the same city. A small compensation, at least for me, which I would cherish, for sure. Running thru a park-forest near a castle was a heck of an experience, because of the fresh air, of course. Better, far better, idea to run there than to go on the roads, even to interfere, in any way, with the main event of the Olympics, from that day.
Moulin Rouge, oh, what a great show it is!
Walking, on top of those 21 kilometers run, thru Paris, was indeed, a great pleasure, and it convinced us about the special air that Paris has. We didn’t attend any Olympic event itself, but the atmosphere was captured with all our pores. What we did then, apart from exploring it by foot? Well, we overlapped the ending festivity with a night at Moulin Rouge. A spectacle that, for me, was the best ever show seen in my life. Once you go there, you’ll understand clearly. Maybe we will discuss about it in more details. For now, would like just to mention that this was our way in celebrating the Olympics in Paris, the end of a chapter in world sports. An important chapter many would say, but to me, sport is getting more and more diluted in terms of spectacle, a spectacle ensured by other sources, in many occasions.
Montparnasse sunset with Tour Eiffel
Before going to Moulin Rouge, on 10th of August, we did experience something we didn’t do in our first visit together in Paris: went to the Montparnasse deck, the tallest skyscraper from the metropole. Well, the Parisians don’t appreciate it too much – it is, though, rather rudimentary built, especially considering the cultural & architectural heritage of Paris – and there is a joke circulating that it is very nice to go there, because it is the only place in Paris from where you can’t see this building. 🙂 We did enjoy a wonderful sunset, behind Tour Eiffel with the La Defense skyline behind, having some good champaign with us. We took as a bonus some macarons, it was a pity not to eat them while glancing at the falling sun: 21:14. It actually set at 21:16, two additional minutes of natural yellow, orange and red show.
See you later, Paris!
On top of the things mentioned above, the access below Eiffel Tour was free and smooth, reason for which we took the opportunity to visit it both by day, and by night. We couldn’t buy proper food there, because only some useless junk was available, so in the end we spent less time than we wanted there. Everything in the air indicated a big celebration, the world capital of peace and friendship. Paris really proved out to be great, and my impression is that we will be back there soon, especially Notre Dame Cathedral will reopen for visiting, also I didn’t have the opportunity by now to visit Louvre, Versailles, Invalides Dome, and any other such full-of-history place. Also, I would complete the Paris Marathon soon enough.
I didn’t stand any chance to catch a slot in “Marathon Pour Tous”, but realized it only in Paris… But this won’t forbid me to reinforce my tiny place in Paris’s sporting history. After completing the Spartan Race Stadium in 2022, on Stade de France, the Schneider Marathon will do the thing. On top of this, I’ve attended, the summer Olympics as a witness. What can I ask for more? 🙂 Feeling grateful, and highly supportive in recommending Paris to others, especially while refreshing this older article, here.