We’d seen it all before. In 2005, Paris was candidate for the 2012 Games, and the Champs Elysées were transformed into a sports display. But as you know, the 2012 Games went to London.

So when it started all over again, we didn’t pay much attention. Paris got the 2024 Games in 2017, but what with endless Yellow-vest protests starting in 2018, two months of métro strikes in 2019-2020, and COVID following in quick succession, we were distracted.

Then things began to speed up. Construction sites popped up, planning information was released, and Parisians began complaining, as we’re wont to do. The construction that won’t be finished, the hassle it’ll be for locals, the tax money it’ll cost, and look at those ridiculous mascots!

Spoiler: The construction wasn’t finished, the instructions to locals to work from home were ignored, and the mascots became hugely popular – once the Games began.