All Eyes on Paris 👀🥇

Salut !

Today is the day! The opening ceremony of the Olympics takes place tonight on the river Seine and the eyes of the whole world turn to my new hometown: Paris!

It's just very cool to be able to live during such a historic event. I know that the summer and winter Olympics are held every four years, but this time it feels even more historic than ever. It has been a hundred years since the Olympics were held in Paris the last time. Time has passed from 1924 to 2024, and we have to leave it up to the historians to give insights on how the world has changed since then, and what hasn't changed.

Whatever the case, here we are, and here I am, living and breathing the Parisian air of the Olympic Games. The attention has turned to France, to my beloved Paris, to the fashion capital of the world, to the city that has been THE venue of so many important events especially since the 17th century, but even since the Middle Ages. It's quite strange to think that for example the Notre-Dame cathedral was built in the 13th century and there it is still standing two kilometers away from where I live, and now it will decorate the landscape of all the pictures and drone footage of the Olympic Games in 2024. Of course Notre-Dame is just an inanimate building, and while we may say that it has 'seen' so much history, it hasn't actually seen anything. It's just cool for us humans to think that some buildings can be that old and exist with us in such a different time and context.

While the point of the Olympics is to celebrate human performance, I think the fact that the remains of the past centuries are so present in Paris adds a certain gravity to the event. The last time I think the Olympics had such glamour was in the 2012 London edition. I was quite young at the time but I remember how great it was to see the UK showing the best that they got in sports as well as in the arts.

Yes. Let's not forget that sports events like these would be nothing without the arts, and especially music. The Olympics are obviously also very closely linked with politics, and the idea of nationalism, but it is also filled with ceremonies that need the input of lots of artists. And now in the case of France, I'm sure we'll see quite a celebration of French culture and a show-off of French and international stars in the ceremonies. At least I've heard that Céline Dion and Lady Gaga will sing tonight, so that'll be very cool!

So in addition to all of these things, here's what I'll be watching and observing during the Olympics:

• Which countries has the best-looking sports kits? (I've seen the Italian one by Armani's EA7 brand, and it looked very stylish.)
• Who are the most handsome and beautiful athletes around!🤪
• Tennis!! I hope Rafa Nadal will be able to play well, and otherwise I'm still cheering for Carlos Alcaraz.🤓
• Gymnastics, and especially Simone Biles' performances.
• The elegance and effortlessness of diving.
• Cute horses doing dressage in the equestrian sports.
• And then some football, athletics, fencing, breakdancing and maybe even some artistic swimming!

I actually already took a head start with the games as I went to see the Spain-Uzbekistan football match this Wednesday. Spain won 2-1 but the Uzbeks were playing pretty well too, if my untrained eyes can be trusted to judge the matter.😆 I loved to hear the roaring sound of the full stadium of Parc des Princes cheering for both countries, and at one point the audience even made the 'wave' for a few minutes.🌊

Tomorrow on the other hand I'll get to go the first time to see a big tennis match live on the Court Philippe-Chatrier in Roland Garros. I just checked if the schedule has been published, and I discovered that I'll see none other than Novak Djokovic play on the court in the afternoon!! I can't believe it! I'm sure the atmosphere will be electric on the court.

And then in the evening we will witness a historic match as the Spaniards 🇪🇸 Rafa Nadal and young Carlitos Alcaraz face two Argentinian players in a doubles match. I don't have tickets for the evening's match, but I'll be sure to watch it closely by streaming.🎾

Have a stylish week full of sports!

Bisous,

Elle

❣️Recent delights

• I've listened some of the great songs from Nancy Ames' album Latin Pulse (1966) again, and I discovered this performance of hers on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1969.
• While being in this latino-vibe lately, I rewatched some dance performances by Jukka Haapalainen and Sirpa Suutari-Jääskö, the famous Finnish couple who has basically won every award there is in ballroom dancing. Here's a nice cha cha of theirs from 2003.