An Olympic construction site, that’s how I found Paris at\nthe beginning of July 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Taking advantage of the perfect weather \u2013 15-20 degrees\nCelsius! \u2013 I walk through the well-known places already, after 16 visits here,\nbut I also discover new places, for which I didn’t find time in other vacations\nor about which I only learned in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, my curiosity is related to how Paris looks right\nbefore the Olympics begin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
EIFFEL TOWER<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\nOops! I go like it’s my own home to Trocadero<\/strong>, to greet the Eiffel Tower, when… what do you see? A fence, my friend! <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/paris-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou can’t step\nonto the wide terrace where, normally, crowds of tourists come to take pictures\nor to see the Tower’s “twinkles” at fixed hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And right here,\na building for the Olympic Games is erected. I’m trying to figure out if it’s a\nplace for journalists\/correspondents? <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trocadero_building-for-the-olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt’s amusing how all of us gathered here are trying to find a solution to photograph the Eiffel Tower through the fence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_olympic-games-2024-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nCertain joints\nof the fences create real windows towards the Tower, and we’re all taking\npictures as if we have access to the forbidden fruit…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nI’m even more crazy, though I have thousands of pictures from here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_olympic-games_dana-mladin-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI take a selfie with the fence, trying to capture the Eiffel Tower cleanly in the background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I take advantage of a hole in the fence to stick in the phone, to take some unique pictures without a soul in sight: <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_july-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAfter struggling foolishly for several minutes, standing in line at the crack in the fence, we discover a few steps away that the fence is not covered with anything! We rush there to get other good pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trocadero_olympic-games-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhat intrigues\nme is that I don’t know what’s hiding behind the fence. I go down, hoping I can\ndescend the steps to the fountains, but it’s not possible. I cross paths with a\npolice patrol, whom I ask if I\ncan go down towards the Eiffel Tower. I can not! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So I turn back\ntowards the metro and decide that the next day, I’ll go to the other side, to\nChamp de Mars, where I’m sure I’ll have an unobstructed view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gotcha!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/champs-de-mars_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nNo view, bro,\nbecause here the fence is even more extensive! Up to the main street! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, where you\nnormally come to lie on the grass in the sun or walk on the alleys, now there\nare constructions, you see all kinds of machines and equipment, tents and…\ngoodbye, you can’t come to the Eiffel Tower whenever you want \uf04a<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Gentlemen\npolice officers \u2013 I stop 3 who are making their rounds \u2013 look, there are people\nup in the Tower, so hey, I want to get there too, I can’t be the only loser”… <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“You just\nwalk until you can’t anymore, either on the parallel street or next to the\nfence, and you’ll eventually get there. But look, you can see it from\nhere.” \u2013 they joke at the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If I had told\nthem I had seen it 16 times until today, they would consider me suspicious\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_champs-de-mars_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd I go along\nthe fence, until the access is blocked, I go on the street, I go next to the\nfence again, until I get close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Full of people,\nfull of police. Only at the entrance there is no one! What?!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, don’t I\ntake advantage to go up the Tower once more?!? Especially since it’s clear, only from the top I can see what the heck these\npeople have done behind all the fences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I immediately go\nthrough bag control, then wait 15 minutes in line for tickets (small line, but\nindecisive people\u2026) and\nget a ticket to the top! Yuhuuuu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel-view_dana-mladin_2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nBoy, oh boy, I’m\nthe smartest at the top floor! With a windbreaker and long pants, I resist the\nstrong wind the best. Others, new to visiting this floor, are having a hard\ntime! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Well, let’s not\nforget the purpose and duration of the visit: I want to see what’s down there,\nbehind the fences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trocadero_olympic-games-paris_2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/champs-de-mars_olympic-games-paris_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom the top\nfloor, I take pictures both in front and behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Then I go down\none floor and take pictures from here too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel-view_dana-mladin_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trocadero_olympic-games-paris_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWell, first a selfie with me, to add to the\ndozens of selfies taken\nin the same spot\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I try to zoom in\nas much as possible, maybe I can identify what sports will be held here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/trocadero_olympic-games-paris_3-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/champs-de-mars_olympic-games-paris_2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAlmost everyone is giving their opinion. Some in French, others in English or Spanish. But I’m not very convinced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_olympic-rings_dana-mladin_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI go down another floor and realize I can “crochet” the Olympic rings both front and back, with what I photographed the day before:<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel-olympic-games-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel_olympic-rings-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\nDownstairs, I realize, as on the top floor, that there are not too many people, compared to what I’ve seen on other occasions. Some employees comment that there are far fewer tourists than last year at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/la-tour-eiffel-july-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI think people\nare scared by the weather and the preparations for the Olympics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My luck\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel-olympic-rings_dana-mladin_1-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/tour-eiffel-olympic-rings_dana-mladin_3-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI stay here a\nwhile longer to take about 2000 selfies, because, you know, I don’t have any\nwith the Olympic rings\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At one point,\nsomeone offers to take a picture of me, in the well-known tradition “you\ntake one for me, I take one for you”. How nice, because I notice that my\nphone, in vertical photos, makes me look much slimmer haha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/fouquets-paris_escargots-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd speaking of “slim”: after a day of eating on the go, I decide to indulge myself on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es, with some snails in delicious sauce and good beef, which didn’t last for a photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NOTRE DAME DE PARIS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nThere is no visit to Paris without going to Notre Dame Cathedral. Especially since I saw it “wounded” some years ago, I want to see how it is now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/notre-dame-paris_dana-mladin_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI like that they have replanted the grandstand in front of it, where you can sit peacefully to admire it, eat, drink, or take pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/-FD4WRoZ1xQ?feature=share<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/notre-dame-paris_works_detail-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/notre-dame-paris_renovation-works_detail-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nHere, it isn’t about the Olympics, it’s about the construction site that is restoring it. I look at the workers from above, watching them as much as I can to see what they are doing there:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/W0Xpe-3vvWA?feature=share<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Spire-of-Notre-Dame-de-Paris_2024-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nEveryone who\nreaches the corner of the Cathedral takes pictures of the spire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It signifies\nthat the wound that hurt the most back then, in the 2019 fire, is now healed! <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/notre-dame-paris_dana-mladin_3-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI indulge myself with pictures, sometimes with clouds, sometimes with sun, then I look at the panels below, filled with photos of those working on the restoration. Cool idea! You see many people, young or not so young, specialists or simple workers, all putting in the effort so that Notre Dame de Paris regains its splendor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/funny-photo-camera-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWhere was this photographer when I needed her? \uf04a<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/notre-dame-paris_works_1-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/notre-dame-paris_works_2-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nIt’s still a construction site on all sides. A construction site with a story, a story from pictures and information that is worth seeing\/reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/berthillon-ice-cream_paris-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/paris-palm-trees-bridge-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom nearby, I get myself two scoops of the famous Berthillon<\/strong> ice cream and leisurely cross the bridge with palm trees to reach a metro.<\/p>\n\n\n\nTHE PARIS METRO<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\nNow, on the occasion of the Olympics, the metro is full of “signs”, explanatory panels, so you know which direction to take if you want to be a spectator at this or that sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/metro-paris_olympic-games-sign-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/metro-paris_olympic-games-signs-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/metro-paris_olympic-games-stops-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/metro-paris_olympic-games-venues-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMany stations are closed, already blocked, because competitions will be held there, and the construction sites are in full swing. You are repeatedly informed that the metro no longer stops at those stations, so you don’t get tricked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/metro-paris_ticket-control-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nWelcome, the controllers! They stopped me too when I\nwas crossing from one section to another, to check if I had a ticket. I did. I\neven got myself a card\nwith the Olympic logo! (Well, I got it because it was cheaper that way than\nbuying single tickets, only later did I realize it was a special edition.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Anyway, it takes\na lot of courage to travel without a ticket on the Paris metro, considering\nthat the turnstiles almost kill you with how brutally they close! It’s a kind\nof extreme sport to slip past other passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
MONTMARTRE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/sacre-coeur-paris-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA lot of people on the steps of the Sacr\u00e9-Coeur Basilica<\/strong>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\nI look around and can’t figure out what’s different now\ncompared to other times\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/montmartre_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOh, wait! The colorful steps and the reminder that the\nOlympics are coming very soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And something else: lots of police! A lot! And just as many\ngendarmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
LAW ENFORCEMENT IN PARIS<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\nI have never seen so many police and gendarmerie forces! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teams of 5-6 police officers, 10 or even more gendarme or\npolice cars at each tourist site!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Continuous patrolling! I feel safer this way, considering the experience I had exactly two years ago with some Romanian thieves, an experience you can read about here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\nA tourist seems to read my thoughts and tells the police\nofficers who came up with us on the Montmartre funicular: “At least this\nway we don’t have to fear thieves”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Well, don’t say hop” \u2013 one of them replies,\nmeaning that thieves have no shame in acting even in the presence of the\npolice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/police-patch-paris-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI ask a police officer to let me photograph the\n“patch” on his shoulder. They all have one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He takes it off, as it’s attached with a hook-and-loop fastener, and hands it to me for the photo. Oh, and I was hoping to take a picture directly on his well-worked arm \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I see police officers, gendarmes, and also the army almost\neverywhere I go: <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/montmartre-police_1-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/montmartre-police_2-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul>in Montmartre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/gendarmerie-paris_les-halles-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>near Les Halles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/gendarmerie_centre-pompidou-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a>close to Centre Pompidou<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/french-army_olympic-games-2024-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a>near Champ de Mars<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nARC DE TRIOMPHE<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\nAccording to “tradition”, here you cross from one side of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es boulevard to the other, stopping halfway to take a picture with the Arc de Triomphe. From farther away, from closer up, you wait for a free spot, right at the traffic light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/arc-de-triomphe-paris_dana-mladin-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI take pictures too, of course. I catch all the traffic light colors on my face\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/arc-de-triomphe-paris_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOn the Arc is the Paralympic symbol, the three\n“crescent moons” colored in the three colors that are most commonly\nfound on the flags of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is also a lot of police here. They\n“fraternize” with us, the gawkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I head down the boulevard and buy the smallest box of\nmacarons from the famous Ladur\u00e9e<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/laduree-macarons-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n6 pieces = 20 euros! I won’t buy sweets for a week, man! <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/louis-vuitton-paris_building-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nA little further down, where I always took pictures of the long line at the entrance to the Louis Vuitton store, I am utterly surprised by their building, shaped like a giant trunk! Tell me that’s not cool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PLACE DE LA CONCORDE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhoa. What do we have here?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/place-de-la-concorde_olympic-games-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTotal blockage at Place de la Concorde. You can’t take a single step because the square is under construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/place-de-la-concorde_works-for-olympic-games-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/place-de-la-concorde_works-for-olympic-games-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI “greet” the famous Egyptian obelisk in the center, take a picture of it through the mesh, then walk along the fence, trying to understand what’s there, what’s being built, what sports might be held here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/place-de-la-concorde_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI see that the stands are already set up. It’s a really strange sight \u2013 to see these metal structures among the historically significant columns and statues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
H\u00d4TEL\nDE VILLE PARIS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/hotel-de-ville-paris_olympic-games-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nFrom a distance, you can see the city hall “plastered” with Olympic signs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Ho\u0302tel-de-Ville-Paris_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI’ve seen this area when it was an ice rink and when it was\na beach volleyball court. Now it’s closed to be transformed into a “games\nterrace,” as the signs say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I find out that all sorts of events and competitions will\nbe held here all summer. It will be open until September 8, and entry is free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the city hall’s website, this is what the games terrace\nlooks like from above: <\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/terasse-des-jeux-1024x640.jpeg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSince I won’t be able to visit during or after the Olympics, I decide to take a photo, though unseen, as I struggle to lift my phone above the fence to catch a glimpse of the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Ho\u0302tel-de-Ville-Paris_olympic-games-2024-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLooks like I managed it \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/louvre-paris_dana-mladin-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI pass by the Louvre. Just to get a feel. The same familiar\nvibe, the same method of “pinching” the Pyramid’s tip with your\nfingers for a nice photo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I remember that on my last museum visit, I spent a lot of\ntime at the Venus de Milo<\/strong>, which fascinated me as a child when I first\nsaw it. We’re ancient friends\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Venus-de-Milo_Aphrodite-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI’m including this museum piece here because I found it again, a bit different, in the city!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ASSEMBL\u00c9E\nNATIONALE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nWhile I expected to find Olympic signs, flags, banners, etc. at other iconic places in Paris, I must admit that the building of the National Assembly surprised me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/assemblee-nationale-paris_olympic-games-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe fence is painted nicely on the outside, but, inside, there’s\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/assemblee-nationale-paris_olympic-games-statues-1024x591.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n\u2026 a series of six Venus de Milo statues, each representing a sport, each painted in a bright color, standing out against the white stone background of the Palais Bourbon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Oh, how much I\nlove them! Well, the idea itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, I photograph\neach lady through the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/venus-de-milo_olympic-games_1-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/venus-de-milo_olympic-games_2-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/venus-de-milo_olympic-games_3-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/venus-de-milo_olympic-games_4-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/venus-de-milo_olympic-games_5-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/venus-de-milo_olympic-games_6-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMUS\u00c9E\nD\u2019ORSAY<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nAnd, since we\u2019re talking about art, I decided to get “cultured” by visiting a museum that I never had time for (or at least never prioritized).<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/musee-dorsay-paris-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nI visit the impressionist floor, as well as the temporary exhibition with impressionists gathered from various museums around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/musee-dorsay_van-gogh-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n“Me, me, me, I saw this in real life, in Arles!” \u2013 I want to boast to people, showing them the painting of Van Gogh’s bedroom. But I\u2019m afraid the guards will kick me out of the museum and send me straight there, to Arles\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/monet_musee-dorsay_dana-mladin-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nSo I keep quiet, move to another room, where I grin sleepily at the camera, with Monet\u2019s bridge in the background, because I also saw it in real life, just a few days ago, in Giverny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/musee-dorsay-clock-768x1024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe photo with the huge clock of the Museum seems like a\n\u201cmust\u201d, considering how\nmany visitors stand nicely in line to get photographed next to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Paris seen through the clock face really looks cool\u2026 oh my, what time it is!!! I realize that the impressionists\ncaptivated me more than I had planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I hurry to leave because I have some souvenirs to buy and\nthen I\u2019m off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OLYMPIC SOUVENIRS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\nHaving visited Paris 16 times plus this one, I’ve pretty much taken everything that meant cute, colorful, useful souvenirs. Therefore, now I’m determined to look for souvenirs only with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Olympic-Games-mascot_dana-mladin-1024x768.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnd I find them! The Olympic mascot, in the size shown in\nthe photo, is sold at the modest price of\u2026\u2026\u2026 100 euros! Oh my, does it also give massages to tired feet??<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I take it from the shelf with confidence, take some\npictures with it, and then put it back nicely, patting it on the head so it\ndoesn’t get upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/paris-2024.jpg\")
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nYou can’t step\nonto the wide terrace where, normally, crowds of tourists come to take pictures\nor to see the Tower’s “twinkles” at fixed hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And right here,\na building for the Olympic Games is erected. I’m trying to figure out if it’s a\nplace for journalists\/correspondents? <\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s amusing how all of us gathered here are trying to find a solution to photograph the Eiffel Tower through the fence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Certain joints\nof the fences create real windows towards the Tower, and we’re all taking\npictures as if we have access to the forbidden fruit…<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m even more crazy, though I have thousands of pictures from here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n I take a selfie with the fence, trying to capture the Eiffel Tower cleanly in the background. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I take advantage of a hole in the fence to stick in the phone, to take some unique pictures without a soul in sight: <\/p>\n\n\n\n After struggling foolishly for several minutes, standing in line at the crack in the fence, we discover a few steps away that the fence is not covered with anything! We rush there to get other good pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n What intrigues\nme is that I don’t know what’s hiding behind the fence. I go down, hoping I can\ndescend the steps to the fountains, but it’s not possible. I cross paths with a\npolice patrol, whom I ask if I\ncan go down towards the Eiffel Tower. I can not! <\/p>\n\n\n\n So I turn back\ntowards the metro and decide that the next day, I’ll go to the other side, to\nChamp de Mars, where I’m sure I’ll have an unobstructed view. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Gotcha!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n No view, bro,\nbecause here the fence is even more extensive! Up to the main street! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, where you\nnormally come to lie on the grass in the sun or walk on the alleys, now there\nare constructions, you see all kinds of machines and equipment, tents and…\ngoodbye, you can’t come to the Eiffel Tower whenever you want \uf04a<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Gentlemen\npolice officers \u2013 I stop 3 who are making their rounds \u2013 look, there are people\nup in the Tower, so hey, I want to get there too, I can’t be the only loser”… <\/p>\n\n\n\n “You just\nwalk until you can’t anymore, either on the parallel street or next to the\nfence, and you’ll eventually get there. But look, you can see it from\nhere.” \u2013 they joke at the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If I had told\nthem I had seen it 16 times until today, they would consider me suspicious\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n And I go along\nthe fence, until the access is blocked, I go on the street, I go next to the\nfence again, until I get close. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Full of people,\nfull of police. Only at the entrance there is no one! What?!?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, don’t I\ntake advantage to go up the Tower once more?!? Especially since it’s clear, only from the top I can see what the heck these\npeople have done behind all the fences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I immediately go\nthrough bag control, then wait 15 minutes in line for tickets (small line, but\nindecisive people\u2026) and\nget a ticket to the top! Yuhuuuu.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boy, oh boy, I’m\nthe smartest at the top floor! With a windbreaker and long pants, I resist the\nstrong wind the best. Others, new to visiting this floor, are having a hard\ntime! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, let’s not\nforget the purpose and duration of the visit: I want to see what’s down there,\nbehind the fences. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From the top\nfloor, I take pictures both in front and behind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Then I go down\none floor and take pictures from here too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Well, first a selfie with me, to add to the\ndozens of selfies taken\nin the same spot\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I try to zoom in\nas much as possible, maybe I can identify what sports will be held here: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Almost everyone is giving their opinion. Some in French, others in English or Spanish. But I’m not very convinced. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I go down another floor and realize I can “crochet” the Olympic rings both front and back, with what I photographed the day before:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Downstairs, I realize, as on the top floor, that there are not too many people, compared to what I’ve seen on other occasions. Some employees comment that there are far fewer tourists than last year at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I think people\nare scared by the weather and the preparations for the Olympics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n My luck\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I stay here a\nwhile longer to take about 2000 selfies, because, you know, I don’t have any\nwith the Olympic rings\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n At one point,\nsomeone offers to take a picture of me, in the well-known tradition “you\ntake one for me, I take one for you”. How nice, because I notice that my\nphone, in vertical photos, makes me look much slimmer haha. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And speaking of “slim”: after a day of eating on the go, I decide to indulge myself on the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es, with some snails in delicious sauce and good beef, which didn’t last for a photo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is no visit to Paris without going to Notre Dame Cathedral. Especially since I saw it “wounded” some years ago, I want to see how it is now. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I like that they have replanted the grandstand in front of it, where you can sit peacefully to admire it, eat, drink, or take pictures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/-FD4WRoZ1xQ?feature=share<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here, it isn’t about the Olympics, it’s about the construction site that is restoring it. I look at the workers from above, watching them as much as I can to see what they are doing there:<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/youtube.com\/shorts\/W0Xpe-3vvWA?feature=share<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n Everyone who\nreaches the corner of the Cathedral takes pictures of the spire. <\/p>\n\n\n\n It signifies\nthat the wound that hurt the most back then, in the 2019 fire, is now healed! <\/p>\n\n\n\n I indulge myself with pictures, sometimes with clouds, sometimes with sun, then I look at the panels below, filled with photos of those working on the restoration. Cool idea! You see many people, young or not so young, specialists or simple workers, all putting in the effort so that Notre Dame de Paris regains its splendor. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Where was this photographer when I needed her? \uf04a<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s still a construction site on all sides. A construction site with a story, a story from pictures and information that is worth seeing\/reading. <\/p>\n\n\n\n From nearby, I get myself two scoops of the famous Berthillon<\/strong> ice cream and leisurely cross the bridge with palm trees to reach a metro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now, on the occasion of the Olympics, the metro is full of “signs”, explanatory panels, so you know which direction to take if you want to be a spectator at this or that sport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many stations are closed, already blocked, because competitions will be held there, and the construction sites are in full swing. You are repeatedly informed that the metro no longer stops at those stations, so you don’t get tricked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Welcome, the controllers! They stopped me too when I\nwas crossing from one section to another, to check if I had a ticket. I did. I\neven got myself a card\nwith the Olympic logo! (Well, I got it because it was cheaper that way than\nbuying single tickets, only later did I realize it was a special edition.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Anyway, it takes\na lot of courage to travel without a ticket on the Paris metro, considering\nthat the turnstiles almost kill you with how brutally they close! It’s a kind\nof extreme sport to slip past other passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of people on the steps of the Sacr\u00e9-Coeur Basilica<\/strong>.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n I look around and can’t figure out what’s different now\ncompared to other times\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, wait! The colorful steps and the reminder that the\nOlympics are coming very soon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And something else: lots of police! A lot! And just as many\ngendarmes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have never seen so many police and gendarmerie forces! <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teams of 5-6 police officers, 10 or even more gendarme or\npolice cars at each tourist site!!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Continuous patrolling! I feel safer this way, considering the experience I had exactly two years ago with some Romanian thieves, an experience you can read about here<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A tourist seems to read my thoughts and tells the police\nofficers who came up with us on the Montmartre funicular: “At least this\nway we don’t have to fear thieves”. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “Well, don’t say hop” \u2013 one of them replies,\nmeaning that thieves have no shame in acting even in the presence of the\npolice. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I ask a police officer to let me photograph the\n“patch” on his shoulder. They all have one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He takes it off, as it’s attached with a hook-and-loop fastener, and hands it to me for the photo. Oh, and I was hoping to take a picture directly on his well-worked arm \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n I see police officers, gendarmes, and also the army almost\neverywhere I go: <\/p>\n\n\n\n According to “tradition”, here you cross from one side of the Champs-\u00c9lys\u00e9es boulevard to the other, stopping halfway to take a picture with the Arc de Triomphe. From farther away, from closer up, you wait for a free spot, right at the traffic light.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I take pictures too, of course. I catch all the traffic light colors on my face\u2026 <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the Arc is the Paralympic symbol, the three\n“crescent moons” colored in the three colors that are most commonly\nfound on the flags of the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also a lot of police here. They\n“fraternize” with us, the gawkers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I head down the boulevard and buy the smallest box of\nmacarons from the famous Ladur\u00e9e<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n 6 pieces = 20 euros! I won’t buy sweets for a week, man! <\/p>\n\n\n\n A little further down, where I always took pictures of the long line at the entrance to the Louis Vuitton store, I am utterly surprised by their building, shaped like a giant trunk! Tell me that’s not cool!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whoa. What do we have here?…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Total blockage at Place de la Concorde. You can’t take a single step because the square is under construction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I “greet” the famous Egyptian obelisk in the center, take a picture of it through the mesh, then walk along the fence, trying to understand what’s there, what’s being built, what sports might be held here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I see that the stands are already set up. It’s a really strange sight \u2013 to see these metal structures among the historically significant columns and statues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From a distance, you can see the city hall “plastered” with Olympic signs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I’ve seen this area when it was an ice rink and when it was\na beach volleyball court. Now it’s closed to be transformed into a “games\nterrace,” as the signs say. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I find out that all sorts of events and competitions will\nbe held here all summer. It will be open until September 8, and entry is free. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On the city hall’s website, this is what the games terrace\nlooks like from above: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Since I won’t be able to visit during or after the Olympics, I decide to take a photo, though unseen, as I struggle to lift my phone above the fence to catch a glimpse of the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looks like I managed it \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n I pass by the Louvre. Just to get a feel. The same familiar\nvibe, the same method of “pinching” the Pyramid’s tip with your\nfingers for a nice photo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I remember that on my last museum visit, I spent a lot of\ntime at the Venus de Milo<\/strong>, which fascinated me as a child when I first\nsaw it. We’re ancient friends\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I’m including this museum piece here because I found it again, a bit different, in the city!<\/p>\n\n\n\n While I expected to find Olympic signs, flags, banners, etc. at other iconic places in Paris, I must admit that the building of the National Assembly surprised me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The fence is painted nicely on the outside, but, inside, there’s\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 a series of six Venus de Milo statues, each representing a sport, each painted in a bright color, standing out against the white stone background of the Palais Bourbon. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Oh, how much I\nlove them! Well, the idea itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So, I photograph\neach lady through the fence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And, since we\u2019re talking about art, I decided to get “cultured” by visiting a museum that I never had time for (or at least never prioritized).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I visit the impressionist floor, as well as the temporary exhibition with impressionists gathered from various museums around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Me, me, me, I saw this in real life, in Arles!” \u2013 I want to boast to people, showing them the painting of Van Gogh’s bedroom. But I\u2019m afraid the guards will kick me out of the museum and send me straight there, to Arles\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n So I keep quiet, move to another room, where I grin sleepily at the camera, with Monet\u2019s bridge in the background, because I also saw it in real life, just a few days ago, in Giverny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The photo with the huge clock of the Museum seems like a\n\u201cmust\u201d, considering how\nmany visitors stand nicely in line to get photographed next to it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And Paris seen through the clock face really looks cool\u2026 oh my, what time it is!!! I realize that the impressionists\ncaptivated me more than I had planned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I hurry to leave because I have some souvenirs to buy and\nthen I\u2019m off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Having visited Paris 16 times plus this one, I’ve pretty much taken everything that meant cute, colorful, useful souvenirs. Therefore, now I’m determined to look for souvenirs only with the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And I find them! The Olympic mascot, in the size shown in\nthe photo, is sold at the modest price of\u2026\u2026\u2026 100 euros! Oh my, does it also give massages to tired feet??<\/p>\n\n\n\n I take it from the shelf with confidence, take some\npictures with it, and then put it back nicely, patting it on the head so it\ndoesn’t get upset.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nNOTRE DAME DE PARIS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nTHE PARIS METRO<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMONTMARTRE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nLAW ENFORCEMENT IN PARIS<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/a><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><\/a><\/a><\/a>ARC DE TRIOMPHE<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nPLACE DE LA CONCORDE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nH\u00d4TEL\nDE VILLE PARIS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nASSEMBL\u00c9E\nNATIONALE<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nMUS\u00c9E\nD\u2019ORSAY<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOLYMPIC SOUVENIRS<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n