Friday, August 2, 2024
We woke up this morning with plans to have breakfast at a bakery close to the hotel because mom was rather eager to do that one day during our time in Paris. Unfortunately, the bakery had a very limited selection of items on offer so early in the morning, none of which particularly appealed to us. It was disappointing because I had wanted to find a bakery that mom would enjoy. Without time to wander around to find another bakery, we went to Gare de Lyon and had some pastries to eat at a bakery there which were alright.
Event 11: Archery
We took the metro back over Les Invalides this morning for our final session of archery. When I had booked the tickets a year and a half ago, I hadn’t realized that we had three days of archery in a row. I was thoroughly enjoying each event – archery had been a surprising favorite of mine when I had attended the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janiero – but I believe it was a bit too much for my parents (my dad was getting bored with it, I think).
We had great seats for today’s mixed 1/8 elimination rounds. Rather than watching individual archers, today would be mixed teams of two archers competing against one another: one male and one female archer to each team. Thankfully the heat of the past several days had finally broken and it was slightly cooler today, with some light clouds blowing over to provide shade periodically throughout the event.
At 09:30 the event began with Italy and France facing off against one another. Italy swept the match, winning 6-0 to advance to the next round. India and Indonesia were up next, with India winning 5-1. The third match was between Spain and China. I was glad to see Spain come out on top 6-2 to block the Chinese team from advancing. The four match was Korea versus Taiwan (Chinese Taipei). This was a much more interesting match, with both teams performing quite well, keeping the score neck and neck until the very end. With a final score of 5-4, Korea pulled out the win.
Mexico was facing Brazil in round four and quickly won their matchup. Mom’s favorite, Team Japan, came out to shoot against Turkey in round five this morning. I was still tickled by mom’s embrace for Team Japan throughout the games, but it was easy to see why: their athletes engaged with the crowds and showed personalities at each event, making it easy to connect with them and cheer them on to victory. Mom’s cheers must have worked because Japan won their match. The sixth match was between the United States and Uzbekistan, which the States quickly swept to win 6-0. The final match of the day between Colombi and Germany was as equally entertaining as the Korea-Taiwan match earlier. Both teams performed excellently, with the winner being decided by the final set. Germany advanced after winning 5-4 though.
Archery finished at noon, giving us a few hours to do some more sightseeing before our next event. Since we were so close to Napoleon’s tomb, we all decided to walk there for a short visit. I made a massive error in thinking where the entrance was located, which caused us to walk around the entire compound unnecessarily. I felt bad about it, but we were able to find some shade for my dad to rest in as we walked.
There was no queue to get inside the tomb and, after buying tickets, we made our way into the tomb itself. This is one sight that I like to visit each and every time I come to Paris. Napoleon is one of the greatest leaders and is, arguably, the greatest miliary commander in history; I am a huge fan of Napoleon, having read quite a few books about the Emperor. My dad wanted to sit down for a few minutes when we went inside to rest from the walk and the heat, so my mom and I set off to explore the monument. We gazed down at the massive granite tomb that was Napoleon’s final resting place before walking around to visit the other tombs.
When it came time to go downstairs, we tried to find my dad, but he was nowhere to be seen. Mom and I scoured everywhere upstairs, but we couldn’t find him anywhere. Giving up, we headed towards the staircase at the rear to head downstairs – and there was dad, coming back up! He said he’s wait for us at the entrance, so mom and I explored the lower level on our own. I took her to the grave of Napoleon’s son, Napoleon II, which is located in a small alcove.
Mom and I then met back up with dad, and the three of us left to make our way to the next event venue. We had barely left the tomb itself, heading to the exit of the museum, when my dad realized that his shoulder bag was missing! This was critical because the bag contained his wallet, passport, etc! He had it with him when we entered the tomb, so he must have left it behind somewhere inside when he was sitting on one of the benches. He had started the trip by wearing it across his chest, but in recent days he had taken to just carrying it around; I assumed he had put it down beside him when he sat down and forgot to pick it up again. We hurried back to the tomb entrance and tried to explain to the guard what had happened, and at the same time another guard came walking up carrying the bag! My dad tried to take it from the guard, who first asked him to identify the contents. My dad didn’t understand what the guard was asking, so I explained what was inside so the guards could validate that it was indeed my father’s bag. Bag in hand, we then left the tomb and museum. Needless to say, it was a stressful few minutes!
Our next event was located at the base of the Eiffel Tower, which was a 20-minute walk away. We walked through the quiet streets of Paris to reach the massive park stretching out from the base of the Eiffel Tower. My mom was quite excited when we turned a corner and we could see the tower itself. The heat and walking was getting to my dad, who was less than excited about it though.
The queue to reach the venue was a bit confusing because it was located adjacent to the queue to visit the tower itself. After asking a volunteer for clarification, we made it through security and into the venue grounds. My dad needed to sit down in some shade and quickly bee-lined it over to a small tent to rest, while mom and I got him a cold drink and something to eat. We also got some ice cream to help him cool down as well.
Mom stayed with dad in the shade while I went in to the stadium. En route, I stopped to get myself some lunch and ended up getting the same thing we had bought for me dad: a pretzel baguette sandwich. The stadium was packed with people, but it was very easy to find our seats, which had a great view over the playing field and of the Eiffel Tower in the background! My parents joined me shortly before 15:00, when the event was due to begin.
Event 12: Beach Volleyball
The beach volleyball event was one that I had been looking forward to, primarily because of the location of the stadium. Situated at the base of the Eiffel Tower, it was one of the most iconic venues of the entire Olympics! The sun was beating down on us as the event began and unfortunately there was no cloud cover in sight to provide any relief from the heat.
The first match was the men’s doubles preliminary phase (pool F), between Spain and the USA. It took me a little while to fully understand the scoring system of the game, but soon we had it figured out (mostly). Both teams played well, but Spain won the match 2-0. When the match ended, my dad left the stands to find somewhere to rest in the shade outside the stadium. Mom remained with me so we could continue watching the event.
The second match in the men’s doubles was between France and the Netherlands. The crowd cheered enthusiastically for the French team throughout the match. About half way through, mom noticed a group of men in suits entering the stadium nearby. They looked like security detail for someone important who would be attending the event. A man in a suit soon entered and sat down amongst the crowd, with his security detail around him. When we looked closer, we were surprised to discover that it was the President of France, Emmanuel Macron! He had made a quiet entrance to the stadium and was sitting among the other spectators! Before the second half of the match began, the French all sang La Marseillaise (quite possibly the best anthem in the world) to cheer on their team. Neither Macron nor the enthusiasm of the fans was able to overcome the Dutch team, who won 2-0 against France. Macron left the stadium once the match had ended – it was quite exciting to see him in person!!
The beach volleyball matches were scheduled to start at the top of each hour, so we had some time before the third and final match began. I went down to the concession stands to get something to drink – and to try and find dad. I couldn’t find him before it was time to return to our seats, so mom and I finished watching the event without him. The third match was women’s double preliminary phase (pool E), between Brazil and the Netherlands. This was the most exciting of today’s matches: both teams were equally skilled and played very well. It was neck and neck for most of the match, but, with a score of 2-1, Brazil won to advance to the next round.
When mom and I went down from the stands, we had no idea how or where we would find dad. As we were looking around, mom noticed that dad had tried calling her several times, but it had been impossible to hear the phone ring during the event. Somehow dad found us and the three of us made our way to the exit of the venue. We were all hot and tired from sitting in the sun all day, and I was worried that mom hadn’t had enough water, so I made sure that she got a drink as we left.
We had a long walk to the metro after leaving the stadium. We walked past the Eiffel Tower and along the River Seine, before crossing over a pedestrian bridge. I stopped us along the bridge to snap a few photos of the tower – the view was amazing. After walking for about 20 minutes, we reached the metro stop and returned to Gare de Lyon.
Back at the hotel, the three of us decided to have dinner at the café across the street again. The food there was good, the waiters friendly, and we could watch the Olympics on the many televisions they had around the restaurant. After dinner, we returned to our hotel to pack our bags for our early morning flight the next day. We were all asleep early tonight since we had an early alarm set for the morning.
This featured blog entry was written by Glichez from the blog Europe, Paris Olympics, & Asia 2024.
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