What I Learnt from the 2024 Paris Olympics
AUTHOR: Angela Skelly
DATE: 15 August 2024
The Paris Olympics 2024 🇫🇷 has now come to a spectacular close (without a drop of rain that sadly somewhat overshadowed the opening ceremony!). I was lucky enough to attend multiple events at various venues across the city, sporting both my Irish flag and American star-spangled banner in allegiance with my travelling party.
From the moment we alighted at the Gare du Nord (thanks Eurostar for a very smooth journey) it was evident that Paris was not just ready but eager to host the world. We were greeted with a well-organised and efficient transportation system that ran like clockwork and the smiling faces of circa 45,000+ volunteers helping visitors like us to navigate our way around the city.
The iconic landmarks of Paris, from the Louvre to the River Seine, provided a stunning backdrop to the sporting events-where else could you watch beach volleyball with that amazing view of a twinkling Eiffel Tower? Yes, there are some road closures in central Paris, yes we had to book a few restaurants in advance (not a great hardship and par for the course for most large cities nowadays) and yes they increased the public transport fares until Sep 8th (as far as we know....)- but there are also significantly fewer people queuing for the 'détaxe', the metro and RER systems coped more than admirably and every service provider we encountered was smiling and welcoming, shining examples for the travel and hospitality industries.
I can't fault the organisation of the 2024 Games, which I found to be equally as streamlined, from a public perspective anyway, as the London 2012 Olympics -if you have guests hesitant about booking Paris or just fancy a trip yourself, rest assured the city is open for business and l'accueil Parisien is waiting.
Bon Voyage.
