Martin Rickett – PA Images via Getty Images
From the Pont Alexandre-III, in the heart of Paris, the opening ceremony was grandiose, thanks in particular to an apotheosis finale.
For this inaugural ceremony, part of the accredited press was invited to the Pont Alexandre-III, a Parisian emblem that could not be more, linking the Invalides to the Grand Palais, while offering a breathtaking view of the first tourist to come to the Eiffel Tower. Ideal… until in the morning, a not exactly wanted disruptor decided to invite itself to the party: the rain.
The world conquered despite the rain
And that’s how my big Olympic debut happened, wrapped up in a k-way, cap on my head to avoid the rain on my face, computer and phone hidden under a tarpaulin that the organizers had had the good taste to install on our desks. Around me: Spanish radio reporters who talked about the incessant rainfall during each live broadcast, an Italian neighbor who was upset when I showed him the forecast for the next few minutes, Japanese reporters completely hidden under an oversized umbrella and ponchos, umbrellas, hoods and other rain capes as far as the eye could see.
But it took more than that to spoil the party. Because between the two giant screens installed on each side of the river, the cheers of the crowd as they discovered the Bateaux Mouches packed with ecstatic athletes and a musical program of very good quality, the show never stopped. And if your servant ended up shivering and with chattering teeth once his raincoat had stopped being so, a great lady never stopped sweeping away these little inconveniences.
Because from painting to painting, Paris has probably never been so beautiful. It was enough to hear the polyglot interjections of colleagues who were nevertheless well-versed in the ceremonial of the Games to understand how the first blue-white-red fireworks on the Pont d’Austerlitz wowed the entire planet. And the soufflé did not fall. Special mentions for the Gojira concert on the façade of the Conciergerie which captivated the audience, for the appearance of a Zinédine Zidane applauded by the entire world, and especially for the choristers who accompanied a few meters from me a Marseillaise masterful lyric sung by Axelle Saint-Cirel.
Celine Dion is moving for an apotheosis finale
And the best was yet to come. Because after speeches that put a definite stop to the general excitement, and while the rain redoubled in ardor to discourage the last Mohicans trying to resist it in the press gallery, the evening ended in apotheosis. From the moment when Zizou, him again, passed the flame to Rafael Nadal, who in turn got into a boat (with Carl Lewis, Nadia Comaneci and Serena Williams, no less) to go and pass it on to Amélie Mauresmo, emotion seized me and the public with it.
The immense champions who gave me the passion for sport walking together from the Louvre to the Tuileries, the Eiffel Tower sublimated like never before by spectacular light shows, the Supernature Cerrone to increase the dramatic tension and until the lighting of the cauldron by Marie-Jo Pérec and Teddy Riner, perhaps the athlete who made me dream the most, the moment was immense. And what about the moving performance of Céline Dion for a Ode to love wonderful as a farewell… My first Olympics have started, and in what style!
Source: www.huffingtonpost.fr
