Exploring Paris During the 2024 Olympics

Intro

I was finally fully in Paris, after leaving Disneyland, as part of my Round the World Trip 2024. I had accomplished some long time goals like visiting all the Disney and Universal parks, but also all the New Wonders of Nature. But one of the highlights of this trip was to be present during the Olympics. I had missed the previous ones, but it was my goal to finally do this, and Paris 2024 and the RTW24 were the perfect excuse.

Let’s start exploring the city, and for that I divided my experience here in 4 different posts. In this first one, I will go to some famous landmarks within the city and feel the vibe not only of Paris but the Olympics and any sports competition around.

Around my hotel

For almost a year I planned this trip, and the hotel stay had been one of the biggest challenges. Originally, it was going to be 3 of us, so I had booked for months an Airbnb located in the outskirts of Paris, around 35 min away on the RER. Somehow complicated but the price was not too scandalous.

As the Olympics approached I noticed that the hotel stays within the city were more and more available, and with similar prices. One of my friends had to drop from the trip, so it was my opportunity to book a room in a proper hotel within the city.

I canceled the Airbnb, and opted for a stay at a hotel close to Gare de l’Est, not too far from the fun, safe, and close to the metro, and everything that this big station could offer.

The hotel was not the best, but at least I would know that I would not spend to much time in it. From the hotel I explored the surroundings, including passing by la Porte Saint-Denis in the 10th arrondissement.

La République

Not too far from there and around la République, I visited The French Bastards – Oberkampf in the 11th arrondissement. This is a famous bakery, very recommended. I actually came here twice for breakfast during my stay in Paris.

The station located in la République sometimes was our prefered one to get off at night, because of the multiple offerings for food, and also the nice view of the plaza itself. Sometimes we would hop on the bus to get to our hotel. And yes, we bought the 7 day Metro card that you can get in the metro stations and works also for RER and buses.

Eiffel Tower

You will see many pictures and almost a whole blog post exploring the Eiffel Tower, and it makes sense, not only because it is the emblem of Paris…

But also, because it was a key center of the Paris 2024 Olympics. They added de giant Olympic rings on it and it looked so good. When I landed in Paris, the first thing I did was to go see it in person, and of course I passed by it multiple times.

So iconic.

In the meantime, my mom was travelling for the first time to Europe. She got on the Iberia plane in Bogota, by herself, flew to Madrid, Spain, and then came to Paris where I met her at the airport. I was so proud of her.

L’île aux Cygnes

Not too far from the Eiffel Tower, you would find the L’île aux Cygnes, a nice park island in the middle of the Seine. To access it you pass by the Pont de Bir-Hakeim, which was heavily shown in the Inception movie, and also became even more famous because of it.

After walking the whole length of the island towards the South, we found the first of a few Statue de la Liberté in Paris.

Right before the late sunset, we crossed to the other side of the Seine, to the Les Ondes restaurant, and enjoyed some food.

We were not too impressed with the flavors and the price, but I guess we would have to find other spots. My mom definitely hated the onion soup, although she almost finished it.

Still around the Seine and with the island next to us, we waited for the Eiffel Tower light show, supposedly a few minutes after sunset, from the Pont de Grenelle.

We waited and waited, and some people even joined us on this bridge. It got a little chilli like it is usual in the summers of Paris at night, but then the wait was worthy.

Because a bit after the sun set, the light show took over the beautiful tower and everyone was in awe. Reminded me of all the good times I had back in 2018 with some friends when we came right before another sports event, the Russia FIFA World Cup.

Jardins du Trocadero

Going around Paris during the Olympics was actually easier than I expected. The event was very well organized and kind of predicted the amount of people that were going to be present. A lot of volunteers were guiding all the visitors wherever we would go, even far away from where the events were being held. On another night, we went to see the light show from the Trocadero area, and just as I had seen online, this place was completely enclosed. You could still access it through a metal detection system (airport style), and you were still kind of rushed from the main terrace into the Jardins du Trocadero down below, where the Parc des Champions was located.

We could have gotten into the stadium but preferred just to enjoy the ambiance. There were drinks and food available, and obviously since it was right after sunset, a beautiful view of the light show on the Eiffel tower.

Later, and after leaving the Trocadero area, we went down into the Seine riviera, and there were many bars, including this Beach Style Corona Bar. I found it fascinating.

Hôtel de Ville

On another day, we found ourselves walking around the Hôtel de Ville, and just like basically every other landmark in Paris, it had been taken over by the Olympics. I wonder how Los Angeles 2028 will top this.

In there, they located La Terrasse des Jeux, where you could just go hang, eat, drink and see the games live in their multiple screens.

Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris

A spot I could not miss was the Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris, not too far from the Hotel de Ville, and that I am exciting to revisit after the reconstruction that had to be done after the 2019 fire. It still remains closed to the public.

Police everywhere during this event, but they do look cool on those horses.

An early dinner was needed on this day, and we decided to try some traditional crepes. Not too far from The Louvre (which we will see in a future post), the Creperie Parisienne Paris was our choice and it was pretty good. I actually enjoyed the food and would recommend this place.

On the look for the Olympic cauldron

One of the sensations of these Olympics was the cauldron located not too far from the Louvre, so it was our duty to see it lit at least once during this trip. We started this search around that crepe restaurant, and walked around not without first getting a nice view of the Grand Palais from Pont du Carrousel.

It had gotten a little bit challenging, since the streets were getting closed for the Marathon, but we walked and walked, passing by this catholic church.

And we got close to the Urban Park where some competitions were being held off at the same time, located in Place de la Concorde. Usually, all of this is open for everyone.

After going through some security check points and some supported tubular scaffolds, we landed in the Jardin des Tuileries, which was promising with the view of the cauldron.

But after walking for around 10 minutes, that area was all fenced off, and the view of the cauldron was horrible. So back to square 1, and to Rue de Rivoli. We walked a little bit more, and would have probably found a better spot, but we settled for this corner. The sunset was coming, meaning the cauldron was going to be lifted like a balloon soon.

The city Marathon was happening and passing by us, as we waited for the show to start.

And just a little after the sunset it happened. The cauldron and the balloon started to go up. The entire moment was magical. This is one of those things that can only happen in big cities like London, Paris or New York. I do not know how to describe it. The spirit of the Olympics was alive.

The show lasted a few minutes.

All beautiful. Now, the problem is that we got trapped in a sort of island in the middle of Paris because of the Marathon. The police would not allow people to cross the streets, so we had to stay inside this area for 2 hours. Fortunately, to pass time, we decided to go eat some sandwiches and see some souvenirs. After a long time waiting, people started to get mad, and some crossed the roads in order to get to the metro. More people followed, and eventually the police allowed everyone to leave the area. We made it to the subway and then that was the end of our day.

Jardin du Luxembourg

I was visiting many of the tourist spots in Paris, mostly because it was the first time my mom was here, and the Jardin du Luxembourg was one of the options for a nice stroll.

We were not expecting though, this nice installation, where people were in line for, to take pictures with the Paris 2024 logo.

We got to spot another Statue of Liberty in this park.

Champs-Élysées

Possibly one of the unavoidable spots to visit was the Arc de Triomphe at the end of the Champs-Élysées, also shown in another iconic movie, John Wick 4.

But walking around les Champs-Élysées is always nice, especially if you stop for a coffee or food and just watch people going by their day.

This is a beautiful avenue definitely, but it is not the last spot of Paris. I still have 3 more post showcasing not only more events for the Olympics, but some getaways from this city.