PARIS: There has been an eerie calm in the French capital this week.
With key areas around the popular tourist sites fenced off, the French capital has been something of a ghost town.
Many Parisians have left the city while those that have stayed are seemingly indifferent to the spectacle of an Olympic Games.
WATCH: Lady Gaga performs at opening ceremony
It’s been a subdued build-up to Paris 2024, notwithstanding several concerning criminal acts and the very real disruptions on the train network.
But that all changed on Friday.
From the early drizzly hours, the air was regularly pierced with a constant hum of sirens as dozens-strong convoys of police roared around the city.
Metro stations in central Paris were emptied and the already imposing police and military presence escalated literally overnight.
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Entry to the Main Press Centre – where much of the international print and digital media are based – was briefly closed to media without explanation, with rows of black-clad officers stopping anyone, including accredited journalists, from getting anywhere near the doors.
I overheard one officer suggesting a suspicious bag had been found, then another indicated a VIP was nearby.
Either way, when I finally made it in, the requisite airport-style bag checks of earlier in the week had escalated to a personal bag search and more security wanding.
It was to be expected that the day of the opening ceremony would see a major ramping up of security.
The decision to hold the marquee event in the open air on the River Seine rather than a stadium presented security and logistical hurdles far more significant than those in front of any athletes over the next fortnight.
During a chaotic trip to a bridge on the river which saw multiple turnbacks, mixed messaging from all involved and general confusion, I rounded a corner in a Metro station to be confronted by three frazzled police officers.
“It’s closed but I don’t know where to go. We’re lost too,” one sheepishly told me.
By the time I make it to the Pont du Caroussel, a bridge being used as a viewing site on the Seine, I’ve gone through three more bag checks and the rain has returned with a vengeance.
It’s all looking very gloomy but that won’t dampen the spirits of the more than 300,000 invited guests and paying spectators.
The marathon, four-hour spectacle gives us Lady Gaga, parkour, heavy metal and nods to the French Revolution, Les Miserables and even the Minions, which was not on my bingo card.
A French colleague informs me the animated box office giants were co-created by a Frenchman and it starts to make sense – almost.
In between all that, of course, more than 90 athlete boats float down the River Seine.
Those on board and in the stands are having a blast and there’s warm applause for the Refugee Olympic Team, Palestine and Ukraine contingents in particular.
The calls for global peace – a mainstay of the Olympics – are brought to the fore with a rendition of Imagine atop a floating barge accompanied by a flaming piano, no less.
An extended music set piece – part fashion show, part dance-off – goes on for seemingly an hour but it’s hard to criticise an Olympic opening ceremony for being maximalist.
And by the time the Olympic cauldron – sorry, hot air balloon – is floating in the sky and Celine Dion is belting out an anthem from on the Eiffel Tower, the electricity is undeniable.
As epic – in every sense – as the opening ceremony is, the abiding feeling might be relief.
Relief that an incredibly ambitious idea went off seemingly without a hitch, relief that it’s over and relief that gold medals are just around the corner.
