"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...", these are the opening words to "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. Reading the reviews of the opening ceremony for the Olympics in Paris somehow brought those words to my mind. It seemed you either loved them or hated them. I didn't watch them on that day, but we recorded it and watched it the next day. Well....much of the beginning of it reminded me of when I was ill and had some drug induced nightmares. So much dancing! It seemed to me much better when they focused more on the magnificent buildings in Paris! And there were moments that surprised me, the opera singer standing on that bridge and singing the National Anthem? What she wore and the way that she was posed during the entire song, it was most effective. Celine Dion singing from The Eiffel Tower? Wonderful! Oh, and the rain! Goodness me, it seems Paris has had wonderful sunny weather since that Friday! Oh well. C'est la vie!
Do you like sports? If so, you must enjoy the Olympics too! You know I do. It has been exciting to watch! In my last post, I told you that I know the words to the French National Anthem. I sung along with Leon Marchand as he stood on the podium having won the Gold in the 400-meter individual medley! It was fun to watch him swim the breaststroke, every time he surfaced, the crowd let out a huge cheer! Obviously, he was in his home country!
Ah, Paris! I have never, EVER seen it, but I think I love it! I am reading a book just now...
"Eiffel's Tower" by Jill Jonnes!
While the Eiffel Tower itself is most astonishing, you would not believe all the characters associated with the tower and with the World's Fair in 1889 in which it was introduced! What characters? How about Thomas Edison, Paul Gauguin, Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley? Not to mention the man behind the tower, Gustave Eiffel! (And where would we be without elevators in the tower? Another character to learn about, Mr. Otis from Otis Elevators! "All safe, all safe".) It is taking me some time to read this book as I keep looking up more information about each and every person that is highlighted.
Thomas Edison! How I think he would marvel at the Eiffel Tower when it lights up every hour from sunset until 1AM. (AND the lights actually move and sparkle for the first five minutes for every hour after dusk!) Instead of a torch for the Olympics, Paris chose a cauldron that looks like a hot air balloon! To me, it looks amazing in the day but just imagine it at night! At sunset, the balloon rises up 60 meters and returns to the ground at 2AM. It is not fire! Water is sprayed and beams of light are projected onto the mist using 40 LED spotlights. Once again, I can't help but think of Thomas Edison loving this!
The French swimmer, Leon Marchard, that I told you about who won the Gold Medal, had written to the coach at Arizona State University (the same one who had coached Michael Phelps!). He asked him if he could possibly help a young French swimmer like himself. Sure enough, he attended that university and now lives in Austin, Texas!
Here's a little detail that I love - he signed that letter, "Sportlingly Yours".
Celine Dion was my favourite part of the opening ceremonies. I'm enjoying the games -- I keep the TV on them in the background as I go about my day, occasionally watching when things get exciting or Canada wins a medal.
ReplyDeleteI am the same way, just kind of casually having it on but I have a gift for figuring out if something will turn out to be exciting, and then, will be glued to the set for a while! It must be from years of watching sports!
DeleteThere is a lot I love about Paris but, like all cities, there is much to be avoided as well. I haven't visited for many years and I'm unlikely ever to again. So I shall just live in the Paris of my memories.
ReplyDeleteI guess I have my Paris of my dreams, and even if I never see the City of Lights, I think that will be okay with me. After all, my son has seen it!
DeleteTwo of my cousins and their families have been living in Paris for decades, and it is only 3 1/2 hours by TGV from Stuttgart - but I have never been to either of their houses, it is mostly my sister who visits them. Her French is a lot better than mine!
ReplyDeleteThe book about the Eiffel tower sounds great. I do that, too, look up the people and events mentioned in books.
My sister and I watched bits of the opening ceremony. We think it was made more for TV than for spectators there, since you‘d only get to see properly the bit happening in front of you. The way they picked up on Paris being the city of love was done with a twinkle in the eye, I liked that! But why they obviously had no Plan B for rain I can not understand.
I think quite a bit of the Opening Ceremony was done with a twinkle of the eye! Still, there were parts of it that were moving to me and I like to focus on the positive. If I had relatives in Paris, I do believe they would see me a lot! LOL! I'm sure your French is as good as your English!
DeleteI watched the highlights of the opening ceremony on the news but didn't watch the entire event. I think one of the main reasons Paris needs the Eiffel Tower is that it's a mostly flat city with few hills where you can get decent views from so the tower provides that for both tourists and locals. I always like hilly cities like Boston, San Francisco, Glasgow or Edinburgh for that very reason. Bob. BSS.
ReplyDeleteNow you are reminding me of how much I want to visit Scotland! The hilly cities you mention in this country, Boston and San Francisco, I've never been there either!
DeleteI used to love watching the Olympics, but I've lost interest. I've seen some nice photos, though, and I've looked at medals won in the news. I recognize some names. Perhaps I'll be interested again the future. I'm happy Celine Dion was able to sing.
ReplyDeleteLove,
Janie
Oh Janie, I do hope you get your MOJO back about the Olympics! I do wish we had better coverage and heard more about other countries. Of course, they focus on the USA for us, but we do know there are other countries in the competition!
DeleteI've seen highlights (we don't have TV to save money) and it is certainly beautiful. Soon I hope to have time to watch more of the clips.
ReplyDeleteAlmost everything is on YouTube these days, you should be able to see most of the highlights that way!
DeleteI don't watch all the events. I do make sure to see gymnastics. Several other events I watch if I come across them.
ReplyDeleteIt would be almost impossible to see all the events! I watch the things I want to see. The gymnastics were so much fun but I also liked the swimming and was surprised at how much I enjoyed the mountain biking!
DeleteI really only saw a few clips of the opening ceremonies and saw Celine Dion and thought she did fantastic. I had the TV on yesterday and caught most of the gymnastics. I only grab a few minutes here and there because of time but do enjoy knowing how our USA teams have done. Seeing the men's gymnastic team get the bronze was fun too!
ReplyDeleteI really like that the USA is very happy when they win a medal, it doesn't have to be Gold! And also, when they seem so happy for others. We think to think about other people, not just ourselves! I do like sports and good sportsmanship.
DeleteI watched the Opening Ceremony and was most impressed by Celine Dion's singing. Hard to believe she suffers from Stiff Person Syndrome, which prevents her from going on tour. I spent 2 weeks in Paris in November 1969. It was awesome!
ReplyDeleteAh, Paris. I will miss these Olympics, pausing the coverage looking, just looking at Paris. We appreciate beauty!
DeleteAt last I can connect with you! For too long this site was blocked by virus/malware warnings. No browser would let me through. So glad you have removed the offender.
DeleteAnyway, I ignored the olympics, overblown and no longer what it once represented. I hope you and him are well.
Hi there! Richard and I are hanging in there. Funny thing, I just tried to leave comment on your blog and it wouldn't go through! I told you that was a funny photo, that man's shorts are too short and also you should look up Smokey Bear. "Only YOU can prevent forest fires". A serious message for all times.
DeleteThe Firefox I use appears to be blocking things when I post. So I post replies here on Chrome. But that should not stop you posting there...
DeleteI'm not sure what I'm on...just asked Richard and it is Chrome. I am never sure what I'm doing. LOL
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