The Incredible Venues for the Paris Summer Olympics

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The Incredible Venues for the Paris Summer Olympics
Paris will be the star of the show. That much was clear from the moment plans were unveiled for the 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony, in which the athletes will be introduced to the world as they sail down the Seine, rather than march into a stadium in the long-standing Olympic tradition. And that’s just the start, for many of the events will take place with the city’s best-loved monuments as a backdrop. Paris 2024 will showcase the city’s beauty and highlight its historic monuments to a global audience.   Eiffel Tower. Photo credit: William O’Such Beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower? No problem! A temporary outdoor arena has been installed. Meanwhile, on the nearby Champs de Mars the judo and wrestling competitions will play out and television commentators will no doubt remind their viewers that this was where the sabre and fencing tournaments took place more than a century ago during the first Paris Olympic Games in 1900. Perhaps they will also mention that it was at the École Militaire, at the opposite end of the Champ de Mars from the Eiffel Tower, that Napoleon himself completed his initial military training.    View this post on Instagram   A post shared by Paris2024 (@paris2024) Another key area will span the river from the Invalides to the Grand Palais. There’ll be archery on the vast green Esplanade des Invalides, as well as disciplines as varied as high jump, discus and pole vaulting. Over them will sit the golden dome of the Hôtel des Invalides, built in the 17th century as a military hospital and now home to a military history museum and the tomb of Napoleon. The Alexander III Bridge, with its Belle Époque lampposts and gilded statues, will provide a spectacular backdrop for the finish line to events including – water quality on the day permitting! – marathon swimming and the triathlon. The Grand Palais, built, like the bridge, for the 1900 Universal Exhibition, will host fencing and taekwondo under its iconic dome of stone, steel and glass. 
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Lead photo credit : Olympics. Photo credit: Bryan Turner/ Unsplash

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After a career teaching Modern Languages (French and German), Marian turned to freelance writing and is now a member of the British Guild of Travel Writers, specializing in all things French and – especially! – Parisian. She’s in Paris as often as possible, visiting places old and new, finding out their stories and writing it all up as soon as she gets home. She also runs the podcast series City Breaks, offering in-depth coverage of popular city break destinations, with lots of background history and cultural information. The Paris series currently has 22 episodes, but more will surely follow when time allows!