On an inconspicuous street corner in the 10th arrondissement of Paris, the 2024 Olympic Games ended on a giant television screen for around 30 people in the Brasserie Le Mondial and 20 more who listened from chairs outside and occasionally looked in. About 10 kilometers further north in Saint Denis, 75,000 spectators crowded into the Stade de France to watch the closing ceremony live.
Marie, sitting on a stool a few metres from the Le Mondial counter waiting for a drink, readily admitted that she had been an Olympic doomsayer. “Well, I’m a Parisian,” she added with a touch of self-irony to justify her usual cynicism.
“Nothing was prepared. There was political unrest and I was skeptical whether it would be a success.”
In her first performance after a four-year battle with a voice-threatening illness, Céline Dion belted out Edith Piaf’s song “L’hymne à l’amour” from the Eiffel Tower and turned her back on the dark side of discourse.
“I was in tears,” Marie admitted. “And I don’t even like Celine Dion. All my friends did.”
Converted since her emotional outburst at the opening ceremony, the 44-year-old was sitting in a café with her former London roommate Dejan, who was visiting Paris from the Slovenian capital Ljubljana.
The duo had purchased last-minute tickets for 170 euros each to attend the boxing at Roland Garros and the athletics tournaments at the Stade de France.
“It was worth it,” said Dejan. “I tried to get tickets before, but I didn’t succeed.”
chance
“I wouldn’t normally watch athletics, but it was the Olympics so it was worth it. We had good weather and it was great.”
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