Hey! Comment ça va? That’s a big “how’s it going” from me, Pete, an Olympics newbie sent to Paris by The Washington Post to show you some of the wonders and weirdness you couldn’t otherwise see without being here.
I’ve already missed a Metro stop and gotten lost in Paris on the way to my hotel. But I’ve got my rental bike, my sketchbook and my press pass, and I’m ready to hit the avenues to learn about Paris, or at least the version of it that exists here until the Olympic flame is doused.
Come by for something new each day, such as a look at the city’s subway art, a dive into how breaking deejays pick their music or snapshots of life between events — often from patisseries, I hope.
End of carouselOne hundred years ago in Paris
As I was wandering, I stumbled onto the route of the Olympic torch and saw a handoff as it approaches the end of its journey.
For Paris, the 2024 Olympics is almost like a handoff from the previous century, because the city hosted 100 years ago in 1924.
Those Games had some big innovations — live radio coverage! An Olympic Village! — and created some early 20th Century sports stars.
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Before he was Tarzan, Johnny Weissmuller starred in swimming and water polo. Gertrude Ederle won three medals two years before she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. “Flying Finn” Paavo Nurmi won five gold medals in track, including setting Olympic records in the 1,500 and 5,000 two hours apart. And long jumper DeHart Hubbard became the first African American to win an individual Olympic medal.
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About this story
Pete’s adventures are mostly those of Artur Galocha, who is reporting from Paris, with help from afar from Álvaro Valiño and Bonnie Berkowitz.
Júlia Ledur contributed to this report.
Editing by Matt Rennie. Graphics editing by Samuel Granados. Copy editing by Mark Bradley.
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