2024 Paris (France)
XXXIIIth Olympic Summer Games from 07/26 to 08/11/2024
Day 0 – Opening Ceremony – July 26
Arriving on July 18, I started my reconnaissance. First, I go towards the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. As it is still early, many stores have not yet opened. I pass in front of the Samsung storefront, closed at this time. I continue down the avenue towards the Concorde. At the bottom of the avenue, I see the Megastore installed right next to the Grand Palais. There are not many people, it will certainly be different once the Games start. I go back up the avenue in the opposite direction, the Samsung store is now open. They do demonstrations on artificial intelligence in 6 tables, which, once the QR code is scanned, allow you to obtain pins. I meet the staff. In the afternoon, I head towards the Enghien les Bains racecourse to witness the arrival of the flame on site; It arrives on a sulky pulled by a horse. I’m heading back to Paris. The following days, I continue my explorations and visit a few exhibitions such as the one located in the Guerlain house, entitled “Or Norme” or that of Mathieu Forget at Berlutti. On the 26th we open the Maison des Collectionneurs Olympiques, various media outlets rush there. The flame passes by the Club France nearby and embarks on the Canal de l’Ourcq right next to our house. Thanks to one of my sisters who I had asked to play, I was able to benefit from 2 places for the opening ceremony offered by AirBNB. The weather is rather rainy, no protection has been put in place. The ceremony is splendid, but essentially televised, apart from seeing the delegation boats pass by, everything is on the big screen.
Day 1 – July 27
Today, I go to the Olympic Collectors’ house to sort out some problems. I meet Bianca, a Brazilian, accompanied by Gary, a professor at the University of Los Angeles, who is interested in organizing something similar in Los Angeles. Bianca wants to contact the president of AICO (International Association of Olympic Collectors) so that her Brazilian association can join AICO. Later in the afternoon, I leave for the Stade de France to attend the matches of the French rugby 7s team. I’m glad I did, because I attend their coronation, at the expense of the Fijians, who have already been crowned Olympic champions twice in Rio and Tokyo. The atmosphere is fiery in the packed stadium. We also attend the medal ceremony, gold for France, silver for Fiji and bronze for the South Africans. It’s time to go home, after nearly an hour of travel.
Day 2 – July 28
This morning, a mandatory stop at the Maison des Collectionneurs to manage the volunteers present and give some instructions regarding the reception of the media and VIPs. Tomorrow, Monday, we are expecting a delegation from the IOC of about 25 people. The Reuters agency is coming to finalize a report, they don’t even introduce themselves. I’m going to ask them who they are because they have quietly set up their camera… I leave around noon to attend the women’s archery team finals. The Invalides is a magnificent site. I witness the coronation of the Korean Olympic champions for the 10th time in a row. After this session, I join the Club France where I bump into my friend Marc who has just arrived from Lisbon where he won silver in table tennis at the European Transplant Games in individual and doubles. We eat together and go our separate ways. I then go home, a little tired.
Day 3 – July 29
Dressed in my red t-shirt with the house logo, I arrive first to open the doors. I organize everyone’s functions and we open the door to the Collectors who are stamping their feet behind the door. Everyone sits at the table assigned to them. Christophe, secretary general of AFCOS and president of AICO, a volunteer with the Olympic family, joins us. The IOC delegation arrives, finally, it is only about ten people. I had invited Gary, the professor from Los Angeles to join us. The goal is to support the IOC to convince the next COJOs to integrate a space like ours during the Olympic Games. The IOC informs us that they can suggest without imposing. Bianca, the Brazilian we met previously is part of the delegation. We present our space and the Collectors present. The visit lasts just 10 minutes, everything is timed. I had planned to stay to go to Club France in the afternoon. However, an unexpected message from Christophe informs me that he has a place in the stands available at the Parc des Champions du Trocadero for someone, I respond positively and join him there. We will settle in stand A, just opposite the alley where the medal-winning athletes from the previous days are presenting themselves but also facing the Eiffel Tower. After a show to keep the public waiting, the first medal-winning athletes present themselves. It is our French rugby players who open the show, followed by other foreign athletes, the French judoka Shirine Boukli, Amandine Buchard and Luka Mkheidze, and finally our mountain biker Pauline Ferrand-Prévôt, gold medalist. The day ends, I go home, exhausted…
Day 4 – July 30
Departure by the Avenue des Champs-Élysées because I have to reach the Concorde where the BMX freestyle qualifications for women and men will take place. Quick stop at Samsung where I greet the staff members. I go down the entire avenue to the Concorde. Once security is passed, I meet Jim, one of our American volunteers. It is stiflingly hot. I go to sit in the stands, the sun is beating down and it is difficult to escape. Between 2 sessions, I go to shelter in the shade to recover. I drink, a lot to compensate for the loss of water. Once the qualifications are over, our 2 French are qualified, I head to the Stade de France to attend the women’s rugby 7 finals. I arrive just in time to see the match of the French team which wins 5th place in the tournament at the expense of the Chinese. I then attend the semi-finals followed by the New Zealand final against Canada. I then go back, not wanting to hang around for too long.
Day 5 – July 31
After a quick trip to the Wednesday market located at my door, I leave for the Maison des Collectionneurs. I update the new files, give the last instructions and correct the errors. I am regularly solicited, and I have trouble moving forward. Then I leave for the Porte de Versailles to attend the table tennis matches, in particular those of the Lebrun brothers, French prodigies of this sport. Félix is the first to start. He qualifies without too much trouble despite a fierce match for the individual quarter-finals. The atmosphere is at its peak, the whole room is behind Félix. On the other hand, his brother, Alexis, is eliminated at this stage of the competition. Once the last match is over, I return to the apartment, too tired to go running elsewhere.
Day 6 – August 1st
Today, I have tennis on the program with the men’s individual quarter-finals as well as the mixed and doubles quarter-finals. A first at Roland Garros for me, and it will be on the Suzanne Lenglen court. There are a lot of people on the way to the stadium, it’s not moving fast. A first match of the women’s quarter-finals with a Czech pair (Muchova / Noskova) against a pair from Taipei (Hsieh / Tsao). The Czech pair wins in the tie-break after losing the first set. The next match is the German Alexander Zverev against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, men’s individual quarter-finals. It is the Italian who wins to the detriment of the German. The next match, 2nd quarter-final, pits Casper Ruud, the Norwegian against Félix Auger-Aliassime, Canadian. It is the Canadian who wins over the Norwegian. The last match is the quarter-finals in men’s doubles, between the English pair (Evans/Murray) and the American pair (Fritz/Paul). I don’t stay until the end, it’s been a long day.
Day 7 – August 2
Day without competition. I have recovered a little from the fatigue and feel in better shape. I leave quietly at the end of the morning for the Collectors’ House where I meet some who have recently arrived at the Games. A bit of tidying up. The media rush all day long, we have a visit from CCTV, Chinese television, France Info, CBC, Canadian TV, Radio Nostalgie and Le Figaro. This afternoon, I am one of the volunteers at the House. One of the collectors informs me that a former Spanish collector who has known me for a long time is there. I go to meet him, even if I don’t remember him. We chat for a few moments about the past. The afternoon is lively and passes quickly. At 6 p.m., at closing time, I leave with my Armenian friends for the House of Armenia. We wake the NOC representative from his nap. Édouard exchanges a few pins with him, we take a few photos before leaving to find a restaurant for dinner. We then go our separate ways.
Day 8 – August 3
This morning, I try to go see the Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Gardens. I will only see it from afar because I have not reserved a time slot to admire it a little closer.
I go down to the Palais Royal and continue my way to the Tuileries Gardens where the cauldron has been installed.
I see it in the distance as I approach, there are already a lot of people walking around. Access to the cauldron only opens from 11am and I have not reserved a time slot to admire it a little closer. However, I manage to see it well enough. I continue my way to go to the Olympic Collections House. For the first time since the start of the Games, I sit down at a table and make a few exchanges there. I met an old Canadian acquaintance there whom I had not seen since 2012 and whom I even thought had died, having not managed to contact him during my Canadian stay in 2015. We were happy to see each other again, we had met in 1994, in Lillehammer, and seen each other regularly at the Games that followed, since then his wife has died. Around 2pm, I left for my beach volleyball session. And there, another surprise, in the queue that had formed to enter the site, I recognized Claude, a volunteer I had met in Turin in 2006 and who had greatly helped me out financially when I had been stripped of all my papers and money from the first day. He took the opportunity, because he had a microphone, to make an announcement to the public about our Olympic Collectors’ house. Very nice! I enter the site and attend my session, well placed at the edge of the field overlooked by the Eiffel Tower. First of all, there are 2 women’s matches, the Swiss team faces the French team which loses without much resistance, then a very good match between the Canadians and the m’étonnes, very close and which sees the victory of Latvia. The next match is men’s, unfortunately, it will not take place, one of the participants, a Canadian having been injured, the team forfeits. We are then asked to leave the premises to make way for the spectators of the following session. But a grain of sand slips in the middle, the French judo team managed to equalize against the Japanese and Teddy Riner is drawn to decide between the teams. At the end of an unbearable suspense, encouraged by everyone, on site and elsewhere, he ends up winning his fight which triggers the jubilation of all his supporters. It is finally time to leave the premises. I return to the apartment.
Day 9 – August 4
Quick trip to the market before heading to the Olympic Collectors’ house. I take a table there and end up staying there for the rest of the day. There are a lot of people coming and going, a lot of exchanges taking place. We even close late, the Collectors and visitors have a hard time leaving. Then, I accompany the 3 members of the association to the apartment rented to accommodate them. We spend the rest of the evening together watching the Olympic program with the 100m final. I then return by metro.
Day 10 – August 5
Meeting at the Olympic Collectionneurs’ house for an interview with BFM TV Paris. Collectionneurs have travelled from Lille to come today. I’m staying there for part of the day. I’m going to visit the Slovakian house as well as the Mongolian one with a friend. I won’t go into the Indian one, which has to be paid for. In the middle of the afternoon, I’m leaving for the Stade de France to watch the finals, among others, of the pole vault, in which no Frenchman has managed to qualify, but where we hope to see Armand Duplantis, talented if ever there was one, shine at the highest level. Another final, that of the women’s discus throw with our national Melina Robert-Michon and that of the 800 m with Renelle Lamotte qualifying in time. The evening was magnificent, unfortunately Melina did not manage to qualify to throw 3 additional throws, Renelle finished in 5th place in her final and, the cherry on the cake, Armand Duplantis, not only won the gold medal, but then broke the Olympic record at 6.10 m and succeeded in his bet to beat his own world record at 6.25 m on his 3rd attempt. The stadium is in delirium, what fun!
Day 11 – August 6
Today, I’m heading to the Olympic Collections house. I’m going to reserve a table there. When I arrive, I’m introduced to a journalist who works for several newspapers in eastern France, who has come to do a report on our house. Then I get my table to settle in, the afternoon is intense in discussions. TF1 also comes to do a report on the pins, as well as a Polish television station. In the evening, with various members of the association, we eat together. I then return to the apartment.
Day 12 – August 7
After a quick trip to the market where many spaces have remained vacant, including that of my favorite meal supplier, I head to the Maison des Collectionneurs where I am volunteering this afternoon. When I arrived, I thought I could settle in to do some trading, but a phone call will upset my intentions. Indeed, the next day, we have a visit from a few luminaries including the IOC member who chairs the IOC Heritage and Culture Commission on which we depend. I am in contact with the Paris 2024 media service who asks me to publish a press release on our site, for the media. After various telephone conversations, everything is falling into place. Then, I take my share of volunteering at the Maison des Collectionneurs Olympiques. As is often the case, the afternoon is lively with many visits. We have one from one of the members of the AICO steering committee that we know well, to whom I have to give some gifts. The security forces continue to come to see us in large numbers. At the end of the afternoon, one of the exhibitors of our exhibition collects his objects lent for the occasion. We close a little later. I have an appointment with my cousins in front of the house. We go to dinner together in the neighborhood. I then return to the apartment hoping to go to bed early, a busy day awaits me tomorrow.
Day 13 – August 8
Today is a big day. I managed to get a sesame, the one that allows me to enter the Olympic village. While I had asked my French acquaintances, none of them were able to provide it to me, due to a certain lack of knowledge of the system. So I appealed to an American friend. After several days, he succeeded and it was from the Tajikistan delegation that I was able to get this much-desired invitation. The village opens at 9am, so I have to get up early to be there for the opening, with the accumulated fatigue it is not easy. The journey is more than an hour without counting nearly 2 km of walking afterwards. I arrive at the village, I go to security, it is easier, there are scanner gates then I queue to get my day pass. When it was my turn, they took a photo to put on the pass, then the volunteer informed me that my file was not complete and that I had to go to the aid office to finalize it. I queued up again, only to be told that the application was not complete. The volunteer sent a message, while I waited in the waiting area. I tried to contact the head of the Tajikistan mission, but he didn’t answer. He finally called me back and sent me a screenshot confirming that the application was confirmed. Armed with this document, I went to see the volunteer again, who told me that they hadn’t completed the process, it must be recorded… She looked and finally the application had been completed, she gave me my pass in exchange for my identity card, which I would collect at the exit. That’s it, I could go through security and officially enter the village. The international zone, which only unaccompanied visitors are allowed to enter, is quite restricted. A small square with deckchairs in front of a screen showing the events, a relaxation area overlooking the Seine with beanbags, an official store, a Samsung store reserved for athletes, I am politely shown the exit, then a small Carrefour supermarket (sponsor of the Games). A little further, going back up, there is a café and upstairs the Post Office. I go there, I make the champions’ stamp with a mascot pin instead of the reel, I buy postcards for my Collector friends that I stamp and cancel with the champions’ stamp, undated and on which the traditional stamp will be affixed, without mention of the village. The official IOC photographer is there for a photo shoot and asks me if he can take a picture of me while I affix the stamp. I accept. Then, he also takes pictures when I put them in the box. I ask if I can take another photo for the champions’ stamp, normally you can only do it once, but since I bought stamps and cards, they accept. This time, I prepared a photo of the mascot on my phone so that it would come out better than for the pin. I am happy with the result. And I leave after a long discussion with one of the marketing managers at La Poste, who is very nice. I go down to the small square and sit down in one of the deckchairs. A young man asks me if he can take the deckchair next to it. We start chatting together, he is a plainclothes policeman whose only day off is now and who took the opportunity to go to the village because he has the possibility on his accreditation. It is almost 1 p.m., and I have to leave to welcome the Paris 2024 delegation at the Maison des Collectionneurs Olympiques and the IOC member a little later. I didn’t get to enjoy this visit as much as I would have liked. It’s almost 2pm when I arrive at the collectors’ house. Sarah, from the Paris 2024 press service, is there, as well as a lot of media. She tells me that Joachim Roncin, mascot designer and official poster coordinator, will be there later than expected, at 3pm instead of 1pm. There’s a lot of excitement between the many media who have come and Paris 2024. I can’t say how many have come to visit us since the beginning because I ended up losing track, but today alone, 28 are planned. Joachim Roncin arrives, I welcome him and direct him to Sarah. The interviews follow one after the other. Christophe and Khunying Patama Leeswadtrakul, IOC member and chair of the Olympic Culture and Heritage Commission, arrive around 4:30pm. After a brief meeting between Joachim and Patama, she, accompanied by Christophe who is her dedicated volunteer, takes a tour of the Collectionneurs where she is monopolized by some and ends with the visit of the exhibition. At the end, we offer her the traditional gift that she hastens to put on her shoulders, since it is a scarf. After a few group photos, she leaves, accompanied by Christophe. After closing the Olympic Collection House, Marc and I go out to dinner together, in the same restaurant where we were with my cousins. Then, we head towards the Olympic cauldron to see it fly away for the night. There are already a lot of people when we arrive. We start by trying to get as close as possible, but not satisfied, I decide to turn back to get closer to the Louvre pyramids and try to take a more fun photo. We split up with Marc, he doesn’t have the same idea. There are so many people that it is not possible to get an internet connection despite the 5G. A little later, when I am at the very back of the esplanade where it is a little quieter, I see the cauldron fly away. I take a few nice photos before going home. Pam has to leave at dawn tomorrow morning and I will have to help her take her suitcases down.
Day 14 – August 9
Pam, who has become my roommate for 15 days, is leaving for the USA this morning. I wake up around 5:30 in the morning. She wants me to help her carry her luggage down the 2 floors. Her taxi arrives, I checked that she hadn’t forgotten anything and luckily so, because she had left her adapter on a socket. She gets in the taxi, it’s 6:15. I go back up to bed for a bit. Then, I get ready to leave for the Olympic Collectors’ house. I already have WhatsApp messages from Jacques, our grumpy administrator, who reports the absence of some volunteers this morning. There are only 2 of them, one of whom is American, and since he doesn’t speak English and puts all his bad will into it… It ends up being sorted out. I get a table when I arrive. It goes on all afternoon. I leave a little before 6pm, I have my athletics session at the Stade de France at 7pm with Peng, an American that I put in touch with the son of a friend for the rental of his apartment. He bought me back a ticket that I had left over. The path to get to the Stade de France when getting off the RER has been extended, probably to avoid spectators crossing paths. They have instituted a one-way system. I find Peng sitting in his place. It starts to rain on the Stade de France. No French medal for this evening. Peng leaves a little earlier to try to exchange pins while walking around the stadium.
Day 15 – August 10
This morning, I had to leave early because I have an appointment with the president of the Albanian National Olympic Committee to pick up some pins for an acquaintance who asked me. The appointment is at 9am, at the Hyatt Regency Étoile hotel near Porte Maillot. I arrive a little late, but the president waited for me, in the meantime, I had his phone number to contact him directly when I arrived. A friendly man, who immediately holds out his hand and gives me 2 sets of Albanian pins, one of which is mine. On the way out, I chat a little with a COJO employee because she has a few pins. Unfortunately, she wants to keep them all but the exchange is friendly. I then return to the apartment before going back to see a wrestling session, for once, 2 steps from here, I can go there on foot. The air conditioning is as intense as at table tennis. 2 American women are on the seats in front of me, with a little boy. One of them, who has long hair, keeps throwing it at me, which is very unpleasant… The fights follow one after the other, we end up in the quarter-finals. Seeing the excitement of the 2 women in front of me, I understand that the fighter is probably the young woman’s partner, however, he loses his fight. I go back to the apartment located nearby before leaving for the Olympic Collections house where I sit at a vacant table for discussions. Then, I go to the Club France, where I see on the big screen the magnificent silver medal of the 100 m hurdles of our Frenchwoman, the only one obtained in athletics. The heat and fatigue have gotten the better of me. I then go back to the apartment.
Day 16 – Closing Ceremony – August 11
Today is the last day of the Games. Both a relief that it is over with the daily hellish pace, and a certain sadness to arrive at the end. Back in 15 days to attack the Paralympic Games, but a little rest before will be necessary.
After a little cleaning, I leave for the last day of the Olympic Collectors’ house.
I arrive there quite early, and I grant myself the right to share the table of our president, who sees me with a bad eye, because he has spread out and must reduce the sails. We are in a corner, not very visible, nevertheless, we are visited. Around 2 p.m., I move to my table, while Stéphane gets back to his comfort!
The exchanges and sales are going well for this last day; Once the collectors are ejected at 6 p.m., we begin the dismantling of the exhibition and I pack up my tickets displayed during the entire duration of the games. Then, I leave with all my things stored in our closed room for the apartment in order to drop them off there. As soon as I arrive, I leave again immediately, I managed to get 2 tickets for the closing ceremony 2 days ago, at half past midnight, on the official website. I meet my friend Marc there who will try to find his ecocup cups with table tennis, his passion, by going around all the stands present at the Stade de France. The arrival is smooth, a friend calls me, he is also at the Stade France for the ceremony, placed not far from me. When I arrive at my place, located in front of the official stand, Marc is still not there. I do not worry … He arrives a little later, very happy to have found what he was looking for! The ceremony takes place, a little less exciting than the opening ceremony, but it is the end and a certain nostalgia sets in. It’s more classic with the unfolding in a stadium, however no edited program, just a small candle given to each spectator and remote controlled, with no reference to the Games, therefore, not collectible! There wasn’t much to collect this year, if not nothing at all or bits and pieces. Even the participant diplomas weren’t distributed, they had at least been distributed in PDF in Tokyo! Then it was up to everyone to print it… The ceremony, which began at 9 p.m., with the traditional presentations of the winner’s medals to the marathon runners, since it was this event that concluded the Games, ended at midnight after a few lengths. It was time to leave to go home, if getting the RER B was not complicated, the management of the flow of spectators being perfect, the rest of the journey turned out to be less pleasant. Indeed, at Denfert-Rocheraud, the station where I take line 6 to return to the apartment, we have the unpleasant surprise of learning that the last train has passed and that no others are planned. Management of the return of passengers after the catastrophic ceremony. Maintaining lines longer on the evening of the last ceremony, when many people found themselves without a metro, would have been wise. Instead, we had to find last-minute alternatives, using line 4 then the N12 bus packed with desperate people returning, just like me, from the ceremony, to get closer to my place of residence. A short night walk to finish, in short, it was at 2am that I was finally able to return and go to bed. A small unpleasant hiccup in the organization!