LIT in Olympia on April 16, travelling on the 130-yearold, three-masted barque Belem from Athens to Marseilles, the Olympic flame reached France on May 8, and from there, made its way slowly up north to Paris. Everywhere it passed, it brought smiles. Almost as a harbinger of joy, a much welcome feeling in a country derailed by surprise parliamentary elections only a few weeks ago. On Bastille Day, the Olympic flame arrived in Paris on horseback, proudly carried by Colonel Thibault Vallette, gold medal equestrian at the Rio Games of 2016. There followed two days of frantic sightseeing for the flame. If only it could talk and give us its impressions.
Among other highlights, the flame was paraded by a beaming Thierry Henry while jogging down the ChampsElysées. It was later held high by Paris ballerinas from Bastille to the Louvre museum, where the former étoile dancer of the Paris Opéra, Marie-Claude Pietragalla, took it to see the Mona Lisa and Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People. From there, to the Sorbonne and then Notre-Dame where firemen who saved the cathedral from the blaze in 2019 brandished the flame with panache. My heart melted twice, first, when the Moulin Rouge belles danced the French Cancan for the flame right in the middle of Pigalle, and then when it entered Victor Hugo’s house, in the heart of the Marais. The flame visiting France’s eternal glories is a beautiful thing to see.
There is something about seeing the Olympic flame jogging past you that soothes the soul and calms the nerves. A welcome interlude in Parisians’ lives after months, if not years, of works in the streets of the capital in preparation for the Games. Parisians needed it, and badly. “It’s so good to smile again,” said the waiter at café Saint Regis on the tip of the Île Saint-Louis, overlooking Notre-Dame’s flying buttresses.
Esta historia es de la edición July 26, 2024 de Evening Standard.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición July 26, 2024 de Evening Standard.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
ARTETA GETS NEW DEAL WITH GUNNERS
MANAGER COMMITS FUTURE TO CLUB UNTIL 2027
Opportunity knocks for Spurs amid rivals' crisis
Injury-hit Gunners facing a tough test as Postecoglou aims to reverse recent trend
Pressure is on misfiring Muniz and Antonio to spark campaigns into life
WHEN Andreas Pereira and Willian presented Rodrigo Muniz with the Premier League player of the month award for March, the striker’s tears of joy spoke of his own surprise at how drastically his fortunes had changed.
Madueke's England challenge boosts the Blues
CHELSEA’S Cobham training ground may be the most densely-populated patch of land across the entire home counties, but head down there this week and it ought not to take much to pick out Noni Madueke.
John Lewis cuts first-half losses after turnaround
THE boss of John Lewis today said he was confident of “positive” Christmas trading and “significantly higher profits” for the year as Britain’s leading partnership recovers from the worst crisis in its history.
Fever-Tree falls foul of the bad weather
FEVER-TREE seemed to be running out of fizz today as poor weather and a “subdued” consumer backdrop hit sales.
Why won't anybody take my novel of unrelenting male misery? I blame men
WHY don’t men read? Oh, I know dear male Standard readers do, those urbane, literary, poised and secretly perverted doyens of good taste. But those other men, they are not reading fiction.
The NHS needs more than long-term reform
THE NHS has become such a bleak topic of discussion in recent years that it is almost impossible to imagine it being fixed. Lord Darzi’s report paints a picture of an organisation grappling with several crises: in primary care, hospitals and the treatment of longterm illness. Its findings make for grim reading.
Ultrasound gives sickle cell teen new freedom
A TEENAGER with sickle cell disease has had her life transformed thanks to a pioneering ultrasound procedure performed by London doctors.
'Now let's get justice for the subpostmasters'
Mr Bates star Toby Jones makes a plea as he collects his gong at I'V awards