Olympics in Paris
Olympics, baby!!!
Days at a Glance
| Date | Day at a Glance |
|---|---|
| Fri, 02Aug24 | Train to Paris |
| Sat, 03Aug24 | Beach Volleyball, Tennis |
| Sun, 04Aug24 | Indoor Volleyball, Kayak Cross |
| Mon, 05Aug24 | Bouldering, Beach Volleyball |
| Tue, 06Aug24 | Basketball |
High-Low-Hero-Chow/Ciao*
| Ben | Maggie | |
|---|---|---|
| High | Medal matches at Roland Garros | Cheering for the US in beach volleyball! |
| Low | Bonking after rock climbing | Indoor volleyball match only lasting 3 quick sets... |
| Hero | Nuss for keeping the US ladies in the match while her partner stunk it up | Ben, for booking all the Olympics tickets |
| Chow/Ciao | Chipotle | Quiche! |
| Freed | From Desire |
*A game I learned from Ben, who uses it with friends as a fun way to reflect on an experience
Journal
Ben and Maggie do the Olympics! Ben originally pitched me the idea, and of course I said yes! He did a great job at getting tickets during an early pre-sale, picking a variety of events, ensuring to prioritize volleyball and tennis, while mixing in some fun stuff we’d only see at the Olympics.
We got a rental car at first, because it’s actually slightly cheaper, even with expected gas and tolls. But as we got closer, we preferred the convenience of a train and cancelled our rental car.
After our first, affordable AirBNB cancelled on us, (clearly realizing it was the Olympics and he could charge much more), we booked two places in Paris. We cancelled one a month before, sticking with an expensive but cute small apartment in the 10th arrondissement.
As we got closer, we started to get more and more excited. The Olympics officially started on July 26th, and Ben and I were both locked in, often watching sports (especially beach volleyball) sneakily at work.
Friday 02Aug24
We trained to Paris, leaving at 19:45 and arriving to Gare du Nord around 22:00, with transfers in Breda and Antwerp.
We had some leftovers on the train, but I had 5 hours to think about what I wanted to eat once we got to Paris. Once we arrived, I directed us to a well-reviewed specialty croque-monsieur restaurant, that unfortunately was closed with incorrect Google maps hours. Lucky for us, just across the street was an Indian restaurant. Ben ordered us a few things for take away and I stopped in at a grocery store for supplies. We met at our AirBNB, a small but very cute flat owned by an artist. We accidentally found her paint supplies and weed stash, which clearly she was not trying that hard to hide.
The Indian food was really delicious, especially the baingan bharta. After chowing down we went to bed to prep for an early morning.
Saturday 03Aug24
We were up at 7:30AM to be to the Eiffel Tower by 8:45AM for our first event: beach volleyball! Transiting there made it very clear how much work went into these Olympics! The metros had extra signs added noting Olympic stops, there were volunteers at strategic locations to direct us, all with matching outfits, and Olympic-themed signs reminding us to drink water.
It was really exciting to walk to the base of the most famous landmark in the world for our first Olympic Games. Ben had never seen the Eiffel Tower before. His thoughts: “more brown than I realized.”
Our ticket included 4 matches in the pool play stages: 2 men’s and 2 women’s. The atmosphere was really exciting, they played music between every point, had dedicated cheers for aces and blocks, and had good crowd work. They polled the crowd for nationality to see who was supporting which team. The French fans were feeling very patriotic for their low ranked men’s team who did not play a very competitive match against the Germans (who did go on to win silver). It was fun to see lots of people wearing their country colors, even if their team wasn’t playing. It was very easy to spot the groups of Dutchies wearing bright orange, they do love volleyball!
All of this while in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower was a really cool experience.
But the insanity wasn’t over yet! We left the third match a bit early to beat the crowd rush so we could make it in time to Roland Garros, which isn't close to the Eiffel.
Our ticket included 4 matches, so we ended up being at Roland Garros for over 9 hours! The first two matches were men’s doubles for medals, so we watched two US men’s teams take silver and bronze. Lots of cheering fans, with competing Australian and US chants. At one point the Spanish joined in for fun, even though they had no dog in the fight. Afterwards they had the medal ceremony. It was really cool to see athletes on the podium receiving the medal and to have the flag raised.
The quiet culture was insane, with the ref even calling out fans who were quietly making their way to their seats. During the women’s gold match, the Chinese player Zheng Qinwen won against the Croatian player Donna Vekic. There were frequent requests for quiet due to the Croatian fans loud yelling, which stood out in sharp contrast to the Chinese fans who never cheered longer than was respectful. The Chinese player used this to her advantage, frequently holding her hand up to indicate the Croatian woman should wait to serve until her fans have quieted. After the Chinese woman won, it felt like half the stadium cleared out. I walked around a bit to stretch my legs before the men’s match and saw quite a few Chinese fans getting interviewed for Chinese media, or gathering like groupies to watch the Chinese player do an exit interview.
After her win, we saw the medal ceremony and sang the Chinese national anthem. It was still really cool, even if I couldn’t appreciate the lyrics.
Being trapped in a venue for 9 hours means venue food, and they had a surprisingly large number of options. We ate vegetarian hot dogs, a savory crepe, and I ended up buying a hat for myself at the merch stand.
After 12 hours of sports, we trained home and enjoyed magnums on the couch before passing out with smiles on our faces.
Sunday 04Aug24
We woke to another early alarm to make sure we made it to our 9AM indoor volleyball tickets. They turned a convention center into an arena, where we watched Italy beat down on Turkey in a relatively quick 3 set match. This ticket was for only one indoor match, so we were a bit disappointed Turkey didn’t put up more of a fight. We both felt we could’ve coached Turkey better, and had multiple critiques to share with the coach if he would be open to our constructive criticism. But honestly, Italy played amazingly and had an absolutely unstoppable right side hitter. They would end up beating the US for the gold medal. Even though it was quick, the atmosphere was still exciting. Music between points, cheers for aces and blocks, and they even had a breakdancing troupe perform between sets. They’d had a different break dancing troupe for sand volleyball, probably to get the crowd excited and familiar with the new sport: breaking. Ben and I had a fun time picturing tryouts for the different troupes.
The game was done around 10:30, so we had plenty of time before our next tickets to kayaking at 15:30. I asked Ben what part of Paris he wanted to see. He thought for a moment, and then I could see the light bulb over his head flash bright as he pulled out his phone and searched for the nearest Chipotle. Seeing it was near the Notre Dame, he suggested we walk to the Notre Dame and get lunch along the way. What a great idea! We didn’t eat any Chipotle on our recent trip home to the US and he really regretted it, so I knew it was inevitable.
I stopped into a Boulangerie for fromage sandwich, quiche, and chocolate eclair to-go and brought it to Chipotle, where we sat outside and enjoyed our meals thoroughly. Sometimes a little taste of home is worth it.
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We then walked to Notre Dame and read from a Rick Steves tour about the facade. Much of it was still covered in scaffolding from the 2019 fire, and we still couldn’t go in. But we enjoyed the view and the history, and discussed how weird of a movie the Hunchback of Notre Dame is.
While we took it all in, multiple people approached Ben and ask him to take their photo. Ben immediately formulated his theory: my mascara and Olympics hat make me look like a girl who frequently makes Ben take photos. I don’t usually wear makeup on trips, and I almost never buy merch from an event, so we’re operating at n=1 on this theory. I’ll report back if more supporting evidence is generated.
We continued to mosey around, walking past Hotel de Ville that was set up for the games. It was a large, free, outdoor party with games and activities and large screens showing various events. When we saw they were televising the US women’s indoor volleyball we considered going in, but the line was crazy long.
Seeing it was a fun game, we walked a bit further until we found a perfect cafe with a big screen showing the volleyball game. We sat down and ordered coffee and suddenly the coverage changed to a French guy competing for a bronze in table tennis. So a bit disappointing, even though Olympic level table tennis is kinda fun.
Next, we trained 1.5hr outside the city to our next event: kayak cross. In the middle of nowhere, they built a kayak course where 4 different kayakers start from an elevated platform and are then dropped into the rapids and need to navigate different obstacles before reaching the finish line. The event was shockingly fun to watch. Our lower tier tickets had us on the edge of the course, so we couldn't see the finish line, but we were very close to the start, so we could see them drop from the height and battle for position. We were both surprised to see that despite the difficulty to get there, and the weirdness of the event, it was actually crazy packed!
Our tickets were for multiple heats of both men’s and women’s, but given that each run takes about a minute, it was only 1h40, 50 minutes for both men's and women's with break. Ben was slightly disappointed we didn’t get more action, given the effort it took to get out there.
Getting out of this event was a zoo, even though the Olympics has done a good job at having volunteers crowd control and guides. It took a while to get home.
After another long day, it was already 7PM and we were tired and hungry. We stopped at a well reviewed Asian place near our house and it was great! Ben loved his Thai curry and I liked the dimsum. It came with dessert and I was excited to try the 4 flavor sampler of mochi ice cream, but I misunderstood the menu and got only 2 kinds of non-ice cream mochi. Ben jokingly threatened a “conniption” (his words) because I paid an extra €1.50 and wasn’t going to finish my green tea mochi while he smugly finished his delicious red bean ice cream.
Monday 05Aug24
Headed outside of Paris for our other weird event at a built rock wall! We were seeing men’s bouldering and women’s speed climbing.
The men’s bouldering was really cool, there were 4 routes targeting different skills (strength, agility, etc) with each climber trying one, taking 5 minute break, then trying the next. Each route had multiple elements that got different point values, and each attempt counted against you. The routes were new so the climbers had never seen them before. It let us get to know each climber, and they got better as the event went on, so after watching some of the lower ranked climbers struggle to get points, we could greater appreciate when the more skilled climbers could master the routes. Given that 20 climbers had to do this, it took a while, but the time went quick because you’re always watching the action change every 5 minutes, and introducing a new climber. The Japanese really shined.
At one point we were approached in our seats to give an interview for French TV! (Ben again theorized that the hat and mascara gave me a whole new look…) I honestly didn’t really want to but Ben encouraged me, so I awkwardly tried to answer questions about the exciting atmosphere and quality of bouldering. Ben was asked a few questions and he did better than me, but still, we’re not “made for TV” people. We both joked that our interviews would be the first to hit the cutting room floor. But honestly we could be famous on French TV and never know…
After a break, it was time for women’s speed climbing. This is a regulated course, unlike bouldering, so the women knew what to expect and could practice for speed. We watched seeding heats and then elimination heats, and while this was a lot of different rounds, given each attempt only takes 7 seconds, it went quick. There was a technical difficulty with the end pad, where it didn’t register the climber tapping it. After the first Chinese competitor hit it and it didn’t register, the commentators blamed her technique for not hitting it hard enough. When the second Indonesian competitor had the same experience, they realized the technical issue and paused the event. To entertain us in the BAKING sun they did sing-alongs with terrible AI making the faces of 1924 Paris Olympics sing.
Finally it was fixed and the competition resumed, with both the Chinese and Indonesian climbers getting a makeup run. Because this event is so new, the Olympic record was quickly reset by competitors. That was exciting to see, but when the Polish climber went; she set the world record! Later, during her second attempt, she reset it again!! The Polish women are good at this event. It was cool to see a world record be set twice for us.
During elimination heats it got intense. Winners were invited to sit on stage in cushy chairs and watch while the losers had to walk off backstage. The crowd went crazy to support the two French girls, both of whom got eliminated, one crying on stage.
We both agreed this was more enjoyable than kayak slalom, as it had the same coolness/novelty factor, but was easier to spectate and a longer show.
We trained back into Paris getting off at Les Invalides have a bit of a walk to fold lunch before getting to the Eiffel tour. We both got sandwiches at a boulangerie, and I got another quiche, an espresso (my first coffee of the day at 4PM…) and an amazing apple tart with the flakiest pastry I’ve had in a while. Delicious. We both felt a bit zonked from the heat and go-go-go pace.
We got to the Eiffel tower a bit early and had a chance to watch the competitors warm up on the practice courts. It was cool to be so close the Olympians. We lucked out with two American teams playing in pre-quarters, first the men Partain and Benesh. They’re fun to watch with their trickier style, jump-setting in a purposeful way that could be a hit on 2 or a set, confusing the defense. They beat the Italians in 2 sets. We were impressed, as we’d watched the Italians warm up as well, and Nikolai looked more werewolf than man.
Next the US women played Canada. Nuss and Kloth were good, with Nuss passing everything and hitting amazing shots. It was really inspiring to watch. Unfortunately her partner Kloth started to crumble under the weight of the moment. The Canadian team aced her a few times and she lost confidence, suddenly forgetting how to hit with power. They lost in 2 and it was painful to watch.
The match ended around 7PM and we still had some energy, and Ben had never seen the Arc de Triomphe, so we headed that way. It was heavily guarded, a theme we’ve noticed a lot this Olympics. But we enjoyed the view from across the street. Later, Ben peered down the Champs-Élysées while singing the earworm titular song they've played at every event (swapping the lyrics for the few French words he knows, mainly "crème brûlée").
Still having some legs in us, we decided to walk to the Sacré-Cœur. I strongly remember being really impressed with the view when we went with my family, so we hiked all the way up there. It was a gorgeous view, totally worth it. We picked out the Notre Dame, the absurd Pompidou building, and even got to check inside the cathedral (free entry!). The sky was a soft dusk and we soaked in the view with the other tourists and surprisingly enjoyable street musicians; it was lovely.
As we made our way down we were starving and went to the nearest place with french fries (that Ben confirmed was acceptable on Google reviews, of course). I got a burger and Ben got a “French taco”, something we’ve been seeing signs for. It was basically a grilled wrap with good stuff in it, it was delicious and unfortunately way better than my burger (I pride myself on picking better menu items but I broke our cardinal rule: never order a burger from a kebab place).
Now well fueled, we walked all the way home. We ended up walking 6 miles that evening! It had cooled down in the shade, and the walking allowed us to really feel as the communities and subcultures changed; it is crazy how quickly the vibes of Paris change depending on the block. And people were out! Cafes were full, the Seine had a crowd, it was really lovely. I made us stop periodically to document McDonald's getting into the Olympics spirit.
After all the walking Ben could feel I was lagging and knew the quickest way to fix it: magnums. How did I get so lucky? He snagged me some magnums at a grocery near our house (no fun flavors, haven’t seen any all trip…) and we had time to watch the US men beat Brazil in indoor. I started to fall asleep from exhaustion during the match, but I’ll also blame the sport. Women’s indoor volleyball is superior to men’s for viewing and I will die on that hill (sorry I like exciting rallies!)
Tuesday 06Aug24
It was glorious to sleep in.
We packed up and left our bags in the Airbnb and headed to Bercy arena for a basketball game, stopping at a Senegalese restaurant I'd picked before we left. We have seen tons of African restaurants in Paris, and not having much in the NL, I wanted some. This restaurant was basically a living room that had been converted into a small restaurant, and you could see the home kitchen in the back. Our waitress/chef/owner(?) did everything, and the food was absolutely delicious. We don’t know what we ordered because we just asked for her recommendation (as long as no nuts, which took me Google translating to be sure) She brought back two big plates of flavored broken rice, one with chicken and one with beef. Both were delicious!
We walked the rest of the way to the arena to watch an exciting game between Serbia and Australia. Serbia had the best player in the world, Nikola Jokic, but Australia had more evenly spread NBA talent. It was exciting, with lots of fan cheering. We’ve been to so many events that we were experts in their crowd work. Ben joked that these international crowds love the wave. We did karaoke to "Freed from Desire" at every event, and Ben joked the weird lyrics could not have been written by a native English speaker (he was right, she’s Italian and the song is from 1996....). We weren't the only ones who noticed this repetitive song, coach of the US men's team, Steve Kerr, called it the "that European Anthem."
The game was so close that it went to overtime, which was fun and exciting, at least for me! (Ben was checking the transit options back to our Airbnb as Patty Mills hit the tying shot for overtime)
Serbia ended up winning, which was surprising after being down 24 points, and we made it back to our AirBNB with plenty of time to spare (although we did waste some time waiting for a bus that was never going to come).
We grabbed our stuff and headed to Gare du Nord for our train home.
Final Thoughts
This really was a dream come true. I've always loved watching the Olympics, especially the volleyball events, but never imagined I would have a chance to go. I can now say I cheered on the US men and women's beach volleyball teams in the playoffs!! I'm so grateful to Ben for making it come true. He was on top of getting pre-sale tickets, organizing our event schedule, and making sure it was an unforgettable experience. He's really the best. I asked him for some his overall thoughts on the experience, and we came up with the below.
Overall, the event was really well organized. The ticket interface were easy to use and the resell platform prevented scalping. Navigating the city was straightforward with signs and volunteers and never felt as crowded as I would’ve expected. We were both really impressed and grateful, as it was obvious just what a huge undertaking this was.
There was more nationalism than I expected from the fans. Folks were wearing their country colors and waving flags even if those teams weren’t playing. But in that vein, there was less American pride than I expected. I think of Americans as being boisterously pro-US, but we didn’t see many patriotic Americans, and when we did, they were more subdued and respectful than what I’m used to. This is probably because US is far from Paris, and the American fans that can afford to come aren’t the boisterous type.
There was more interest in the “weird” events than I expected. Transiting far out for 1.5h of kayaking was somehow still a packed event with tons of interested and cheering fans. And the same with bouldering! Lots of other fans were interested in the novelty factor like us.
We had a great time and both agreed we’d do it again, depending on the location. This trip wasn’t one of our planned vacations, so we only took off a few days and had this be a long weekend. We packed in a ton of stuff in a short amount of time, seeing 2 events per day. We both reflected that next time, we’d go for longer and do one event per day. That way we would not feel so rushed, and we’d have a chance to explore the host city as a tourist a bit more.
For the Record
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Arrival | Train, Friday 02Aug24, 10PM |
| Departure | Train, Tuesday 06Aug24, 5PM |
| Accomodation | AirBNB, 9 Rue Jacques Louvel-Tessier |
| Senegalese Restaurant | Chez Les Copines |
| Maisy | With Hanna and Ray and their two corgis |
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