Friday came along, and I was far too early at Arena Paris Sud. The tram stop in front of the site was closed and you had to get off either at the one before or the one after, but again, pink signs and friendly volunteers were everywhere. Arena Paris Sud is the Paris fairgrounds, which I’m very familiar with due to it hosting the International Agricultural Fair every February. For Paris 2024, it hosted table tennis (featuring the French brothers Alexis and Félix Lebrun), handball, weightlifting, and volleyball. As I arrived, a big crowd of spectators left the grounds, apparently a handball match had just ended.
There were strict controls, not only of tickets but also of bottles. You had to take a sip from your bottle if it was full, but you could bring an empty one like I did and fill it up on the premises. Once inside, there was volleyball-themed entertainment for the visitors, and you could watch the two teams warm up. In my case, it was the favored Brazilian team against the outsiders from Egypt in a pool game that wasn’t shown on any of the French tv channels.
Once we were seated, pre-game animations included an overview of the rules, and cues for us to encourage the players.
There was music too (“Walk like an Egyptian”), and during the national anthems, Brazilians outnumbered Egyptians among the spectators.
Even more important, there were the “trois coups de bâton”. This is a tradition from French theater, thumbing a staff three times on the floor to open the session. In more prestigious sessions, notables, celebrities, retired athletes, would give the signal. In my pool match, a volunteer did the honors. It still felt special. I was part of the experience, of the Olympic Games.
Unfortunately, the match was over quickly, the Brazilians beat the Egyptians 3:0 in 75 minutes. But my Olympic adventure wasn’t over yet. On the common premises of Arena Paris Sud, not accessible before the match, you could buy souvenirs at the official licensed shop and get your photo taken with the Olympic rings. You joined the line, and when it was your turn, a friendly volunteer would take your phone to snap a dozen pictures. Everyone waited patiently while you installed your kids, no one grumbled.
Another volunteer sat in an umpire seat (think of a tennis match) and directed traffic, aka the various spectators ambling around after their sessions.
Two ladies were in the line ahead of me, one carrying an umbrella to protect her from the sun. While volunteer 1 took the phones and the ladies went to pose with the rings, volunteer 2 held the umbrella over his colleague’s head.
We were all having a good day. And mine got even better when I met Phryge, the Games mascot! Back in February, I was hesitant to embrace a giant plush version for a photo op at a sponsor’s stand at the Agricultural Fair, but here I was hugging and smiling and getting my photo taken.
As we left town for our summer vacation, the second week of the Olympics happened on tv for me. I missed out on cheering the athletes at the Olympic marathon, or the people at the “marathon for all” that followed it; I didn’t see the road cycle race. What I did was stay glued to the screen when Léon Marchand, whose name I’d not heard before, swam to quadruple individual gold, winning two of those in a single day, and topping it off with a team bronze in the relay. How much I wish I’d been able to get tickets for Olympic swimming!