All over the city there is talk of bad weather and nervous glances at the gray and desolate sky.
Sure enough, the clouds unleashed torrents of rain on Friday afternoon, flooding the streets and threatening to ruin France’s moment.
Then the exhibition began.
A convoy of boats crossed the Seine one after another, carrying thousands of athletes with them. Lady Gaga danced at a brilliant level and Celine Dion sang from the top of the Eiffel Tower. The Olympic torch levitated like a giant hot air balloon.
It seems that nothing – not even a violent summer typhoon – could stop the Paris Olympics from holding one of the most impressive opening ceremonies in history.
“Through this ceremony, our country will show the world what it is,” President Emmanuel Macron said earlier. “Let it begin!”
In recent weeks, there has been a sense that France wants something like this, a reason to celebrate after a complicated era marked by protests and riots over hard work, political turmoil and even a series of arson attacks that paralyzed the rail formula last Friday.
Olympic organizers had risked avoiding a classic stadium display for a four-mile parade down the Seine with about 320,000 spectators watching from the banks of the river. sports occasions at iconic venues such as the Palace of Versailles and the Grand Palais.
“There is no example to go by and you have to be creatively free,” artistic director Thomas Jolly told the Olympic Information Service this week. “So this is amazing. ”
Jolly has created a generally French company, dizzying in its scale and its strange artistic talent. It all started on the Austerlitz Bridge with this flotilla in which 6,800 athletes from 205 countries participated. Large groups crowded into the ferries, small groups into the small boats.
One of the most anticipated moments came when Lady Gaga sang in French from a golden stage. He followed the cabaret dancers, all dressed in pink, who were kicking along the water’s edge.
In the recent unrest in the country, only protesters took to the streets over the wars between Israel and Hamas and in Ukraine, but activists also threatened to defecate en masse in the Seine. Last month, Macron’s resolution to call early elections plunged parliament into chaos. .
Shortly after arson caused delays for thousands of train travelers, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo expressed hope that the Games would simply be “a celebration of the network” and “an unforgettable moment. ” public celebration.
Organizers intentionally included cultural references to Les Miserables, icon Yves Saint Laurent and the Louvre. Notre Dame made an appearance.
Devastated by a fire in 2019, the cathedral has since reopened. Instead, the artists swung on structural scaffolding.
Given the scale of the ceremony, giant video panels were installed elsewhere so that spectators could follow the action. Even as the rain intensified, crowds of people remained along the river.
The speed slowed a bit as the parade came to an end in front of the historic Trocadero. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, gave the same speech as always and the athletes read the Olympic oath.
But a night like this ended with undeniable formalities.
Soon, music poured out of the speakers as rays of light crossed the Eiffel Tower. Dion, who is battling an illness, gave an emotional performance. Carl Lewis, Nadia Comaneci, Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal helped hand over the torch for their gravity-defying act. .
As Bach noted, Paris hosted the Games “in such an impressive way. ” The city was in a position to have a great time.
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