The Paris Residences of James Joyce

Non, je ne regrette rien – No regrets volunteering at the Paris 2024 Games

Non, je ne regrette rien – No regrets volunteering at the Paris 2024 “Wide Open” Games.

As Edith Piaf sang in 1960, Non, je ne regrette rien – No regrets. She was singing about no regrets in letting go of years of emotional baggage, and I’m writing about no regrets in not letting go of an opportunity of a lifetime – 10 days working at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. There were many reasons to be a full-time volunteer in the Press Operations Team at the Grand Palais during the Paralympics taekwondo, triathlon, and fencing events in the “Wide Open Games.” More reasons for than not.

About 300,000 people in France and overseas applied to be a volunteer at the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and 45,000 were selected. The long process was easy and impressive.

First, the athletes made volunteering magical and memorable. They were thrilling to watch and a privilege to serve.

The highlights for me also included the camaraderie of the management team and volunteers, and their support for each other. It was to ensure that the media captured the best efforts of each athlete and the best photos to shine a spotlight on all that the athletes do to participate and, for many, to reach the pinnacle of success.

I loved the rivalry between individuals and countries – intense during competition and collegiate afterwards. The roar of spectactors showed their loyalties, passion, and creativity of costumes, banners, and face paint. Event hosts, dancers, and musicians kept the atmosphere alive in anticipation of the next event. As part of the French Ministry of Education’s sporting spirit of “sport is easy and every day” campaign, school children and their teachers and parents joined in en masse, with ardent fans, waving country flags, chanting, and cheering in their seats.

Outside the venues, I loved the Fan Zones with the large screens and communal cheering for countries, champions, and for all efforts – win or no win – it was the effort that triumphed. People of all ages said farewell to favourite athletes and welcomed a new era of sporting heroes. Everyone competing was a hero as they battled foes, friends, weather, delays, injuries, illnesses, equipment, rules, regulations, penalties, disqualifications, fate and destiny.

I loved the tension and the calm, the sadness and solace, the anticipation and the joy, the enthusiasm and the embraces, the uniqueness of individuals, and the solidarity of teams.

And let’s not forget Paris. A hundred years after the Paris 1924 Olympics, the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics brought everyone together, reinforcing the motto “Games Wide Open.” Nostalgic 1920s photographs and videos in sepia tones transformed into vibrant, colourful big screen, wide open angles, and close-up, second-by-second footage and images. Monuments and ancient buildings were wide open to the public as they became sporting venues. Many events were held in the wide-open streets of Paris and France to share the spectacle with more people. Combining sport and art with dance and music opened the Games wide to people of all ages and interests. The Games were wide open to diversity to increase gender parity and wide open to include more para-athletes to make Paris 2024 the biggest Paralympic Games in history.

I loved every second.

Working in the Grand Palais, Paris

Working in the Grand Palais for the Paris 2024 Paralympics.

The Paris 2024 Paralympics begins with the opening ceremony on Wednesday 28 August and, unlike the part-time, on-call, intermittent volunteer work in the Olympics, I’ll be working full-time, frontline, and the weekend for the 11 days of competition at the venue called the Grand Palais – the Grand Palace.

The Grand Palais will host three disciplines, two inside: 1) Para Taekwondo and 2) Wheelchair Fencing, with one outside: 3) Para Triathlon, which begins and ends on the bridge outside the Grand Palais. I will have access to all three event disciplines.

Today, Monday 26 August was venue training and preparation day. I’ll be working in Press Operations and specifically in the Press Tribune box – with the best view of the events and, for the Para Triathlon, the best view of Paris.

In the Grand Palais, there will be a contingency from the Paralympic team, supported by 1,317 volunteers of 86 nationalities – 703 of them will work inside the Grand Palais, 215 will work outside, and 399 (including me) will be inside and outside.

I will be working in Press Operations with a group of 57 volunteers – who will have access to everything except the FOP – Field of Play (the octagonal area for Taekwondo, the floor for Wheelchair Fencing, and the lanes on the bridge for the last run leg of the Para Triathlon). Of that 57, a handful (including me) will be in the Tribune Press Box – the best seats in the venue to watch the competition – assisting the accredited press, international officials, or any of the officials from the 39 member federations.

Today was also the day to take photographs because volunteers will not be permitted to take photographs of the events in play. The Grand Palais is, without doubt, the grandest of all Parisian buildings.

Its full title is The Grand Palace of the Champs-Élysées, situated next to the river Seine and close to the street of the Champs-Élysées. It was built as an exposition hall in 1897 for the Universal Exposition of 1900. It became a military hospital during World War 1, a truck depot for the Nazis in World War II, the headquarters of the Parisian Resistance in 1944, a historical monument in 1965, and a museum complex soon after.

Now it contains a science museum and the National Society of Fine Arts with a major police station in the basement. It was closed from March 2021 for renovation in readiness for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. It is planned to re-open to the public in the spring of 2025.

But from 26 August to 8 September 2024, the Grand Palais is my Grand Office. And what a magnificent office it is too.

Today, split into our volunteer functional groups, we received venue training and familiarization. In addition to the work and sporting zones, there is also a dining area and, next to it, a Volunteers Room to have lunch and take breaks.

INTERESTING FACT: There is a dog-friendly area for guide dogs.

INTERESTING FACT: There is every likelihood that every volunteer will get lost in the venue at least once.

The most common word today was FLOW. It was all about the flow. Not the “way” to the field of play, but the “flow” to the field of play; not the queue to the toilets, but the flow to the toilets. The flow through security checks, the flow to inside areas, the flow to outside areas, the flow to wheelchair access ramps and elevators, the flow to press boxes, the flow of athletes, the flow of athlete assistants, the flow of photographers, the flow of medical staff, the flow of spectators, the flow of communications, the flow to the water fountains, and the flow of recycling products.

Let the Games flow.

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: SPYING – Blog # 24

NEW PARIS BOOK IN PROGRESS IN 2024: SPYING – Blog # 24.

Why is spying an effective inspirational method when writing a book? It provides the fine detail to character development.

In a café, on the street, at a concert … people do stuff, people have habits, people have mannerisms, people have idiosyncrasies. Idiosyncrasies make a character interesting. Besides, it tells the reader more about a character in fewer words. It paints a picture, an image, often – we hope – an indelible impression. A good impression, an annoying impression – but an impression, nonetheless.

Australian truffles in France – and cooking up a recipe

Australian truffles in France – and cooking up a recipe.

I’ve been gifted unusual things in my life and a gift of an Australian truffle while living in France is no exception. By weight, the truffle is one of the most expensive foods to purchase, so I was thrilled to receive this birthday gift – one truffle in an air-locked bag from a specialty truffle shop in the south of France, with a bottle of extra virgin olive oil flavoured with Black Truffle.

A truffle is an edible spore – an underground fungi in the Tuberaceae family – found in woodlands. It looks like a small, round, hard lump of dark soil. But to find one, a special detector is needed – the nose of a pig or a dog.

Handling the Paris heatwave

Handling the Paris heatwave!

The first Women’s Olympic Games – it began in Paris!

The first Women’s Olympic Games – it began in Paris!

The 1922 Women’s Olympic Games – Jeux Olympiques Féminins – was the first global sporting competition for women. The event was held on one day – 20 August 1922 – at the Pershing Stadium in Paris.

The 1922 Women’s Olympic Games was established because the International Olympic Committee refused to include women’s events in the Paris 1924 Olympic Games. So, women held their own.

Phryge the Paris 2024 Olympic mascot – but how do you pronounce it?

Phryge the Paris 2024 Olympic mascot – but how do you pronounce it?

I’ve been popping into one of the 16 Paris 2024 Olympic Fan Zones around the capital where people can watch Olympic events on a big screen in a designated area.

I asked a four-year old French girl at the Fan Zone if she had seen the Olympic mascot. Did she have a selfie with the mascot? Sandrine had not seen the mascot – the red Olympic Phryge. I hadn’t seen the mascot either in the Fan Zone, but I did see the Phryge in the handball stadium.

The Phryge mascot is in the shape of a Phrygian hat, a symbol of freedom in France. It’s also known as the liberty cap. I had a red tote bag with the Phryge on it slung around my shoulder and Sandrine recognized the mascot. I said it looked funny and she said it looked French. I think she was right.

Sandrine also corrected my French. The mascot is not pronounced Frig! Nor Fridge! Phryge is pronounced free-juh. Free-juh! Fast – it’s Freeje! Freeje!