One of the elegant jumps in Versailles, photo Michael Williams

Since I did not attend many of the Olympic sessions except the archery on the Invalides, I spent the week talking to my foreign friends who had come especially from afar. From Melbourne, Rob and Jane were enthusiastic about the win of their friend Jessica Fox at Canoe-Kayak in Vaires-sur-Marne. They spent nine hours altogether in transports and on the site and said that everything  was very well organized and smooth but they walked for miles. Fox is the daughter of two canoe kayak slalom champions, she was born in Marseille from a French mother and a British father who both chose to move to Australia. And I noticed that many of the swimmers also had champion swimmers as parents.

Jessica Fox won gold at Canoe Kayak

My American friends, Michael and Sissi, were loved their stay in Versailles at the Trianon Palace. They are serious riders and loved the cross country in the forest with very pretty jumps. But they also enjoyed visiting the exhibition on horses in the castle at night, with a special welcome from Christophe Leribault, the President, who made them feel completely at home. French commentators are constantly raving about the gold and silver medals in cross country biking, triathlon, fencing, ping pong, BMX (bicycle motocross), swimming and judo won by the French athletes. One of them created the surprise Joan-Benjamin Gaba who was listed 35 th in the world and became silver medalist in judo at 23.

Joan-Benjamin Gaba in the finals against the Moldavian Adil Osmanov

The star of all French competitors was of course, the swimmer Léon Marchand, 22, who won two gold medals in 200 m butterfly and breaststroke on the evening of July 31. One gold medal previously for 400 medley, a fourth one in 200 medley and a bronze with his team in 4x100m. I wonder if all the little boys born this year in France will be called Léon? It’s a very old fashion first name… He trains at Arizona State University.

Léon Marchand at 22 is with Teddy Riner, the greatest French star of the Olympics with five medals

We were watching him on an iPhone in the middle of the official dinner given by Pascal Grizot, Presode,t of try French Golf Federation for the various Golf PGA and IGF committee members. It was attended by former 2016 golf Gold Medalist, the Korean Inbee Park, 35, who is hoping to be elected on the Olympic Committee’s athletes commission. She is expecting a baby for very soon and was very moving when she told Guy Kinnings, the European tour Chief Executive Officer, how the Olympics had changed her celebrity status in Korea. Only forty years old women used to recognize her before and suddenly, teenagers and women in their twenties stopped her on the streets of Seoul.

Inbee Park, Golf gold medalist in Rio in 2016

On the first two days, golf has not attracted as many visitors as expected due to the difficulties of getting to St Quentin en Yveline and the lack of parkings. But as soon as Perez started playing well, teh crowds came and on the week end, the course of l’Albatros was booming.  The sports is progressing in France and we had three great champions competing, Céline Boutier, Matthieu Pavon and Victor Perez. The public followed Pavon in mass at first, who was the first surprised by the crowds of supporters. I would have loved to see the BMX competitions also in St Quentin en Yvelines when three French athletes won the three medals! I find this sport extremely sexy and so dangerous!

I was very impressed by the great calm and perfect organization on the Esplanade des Invalides. Archery was totally a mystery to me and I was fascinated to see that victory could be so tight between the teams in the qualifiers. Korea beat Chinese Taipei and Japan beat Turkey by a tiny margin while Germany beat Colombia also at the last second. The aim is seventy meters away and often the judges could not see whether the arrow was in 9 or in 10… The suspense was huge, but the breeze was lovely and we had both the dome of the Invalides, the Eiffel Tower and the Grand Palais in our range of vision. Everyone was incredibly friendly chatting to each other in between matches. And I have to say that most French people were making huge efforts to speak to their German, Japanese, British or Dutch neighbors. It was obviously the Olympic’s Peace effect.

Teddy Riner was victorious five times in gold

There is a unanimous reaction to these Olympic Games: everyone seems so happy on the streets of Paris and all the spectators speak to each other peacefully and share their emotions even when they support rival teams. The many volunteers or security guards are incredibly friendly, they smile and constantly offer their help to direct the public. All the crowds’ movements were smooth. I wonder if this is going to change the bad reputation the French have for hospitality?

Felix Lebrun in his final shots against Calderano last Sunday

Felix Lebrun, the 17 year old ping pong player from Montpellier, who won bronze was certainly a discovery for many of us. His speed and authority against the Brazilian Hugo Calderano were fascinating. H looks like Tintin with glasses and seems to be having enormous fun.

One of the very sympathetic volunteers helping us towards the exit at Invalides

Of course if you walk in the Latin quarter, you only meet foreigners, mostly Americans, who queue in the heat at Buly on rue Bonaparte to buy face creams or stop at Glacier du Pont des Arts to buy ice creams. They also like the fantastic steak for 22 € at l’Entrecôte, 20 rue St Benoît, sit in the heat at Café de Flore and indulge at the new glamorous fashion space opened by Fragonard at 196 bd St Germain.

Glacier du Pont des Arts in front of the Louvre

I was the only French client for lunch at La Petite Chaise, the well known restaurant near Sciences Po on rue de Grenelle which has recently changed hands, and was not impressed by the “émincé du potager”, a mix of tasteless raw vegetable (cauliflower? mushroom?) but liked the tourteau (crab) “tenue de soirée” better. The service is very kind, the decor is warm, trying to be chic, with a wooden library and the prices are also trying to be too chic. I will have to go back for dinner for a full appraisal.

The tourteau “tenue de soirée” at la Petite Chaise was very good, a little pretentious

The prettiest impressions of the Olympics come from the architectural sites of Paris which are included in the events. I walked by the Tuileries to have a look at the hot air balloon which now carries the electrical flame. I disapprove the lack of real flame, but admire the process of creating light with steam and electricity. It takes off every night (until the 11 th) at sunset and here is the schedule. The balloon was lit on inauguration night by Marie José Perec (born 1968 in Basse Terre) and Teddy Riner, and Tony Estanguet, the director of Paris 2024, did not go wrong in choosing him. He has been the utter star of the week with five gold medals in judo and a constant smile. Born in 1989 in Pointe à Pitre, he is the greatest medal earner of the French in the Olympics.

The Hot air Balloon devised for the flame is very pretty to look at in the Tuileries

Once again, there are two Paris at the moment. One belongs to Olympic Games visitors, who all love the City of Light and shop like crazy on faubourg St Honoré. The other, the city of people who live here, is a little bit of a nightmare with buses being canceled and traffic impossible to calculate especially this last week end when the cyclists raced from Montmartre to the Trocadero! But we are proud to find so many people from around the world who think that we are the luckiest on earth. We will just need to convince ourselves of the privilege of being French and thank Tony Estanguet for such a brilliant organization.