Paris has hosted an extra-special guest on France’s national holiday; the Olympic flame.
Helping to light up the city’s military parade for Bastille Day on Sunday, hundreds of people carried the Olympic torch all the way from Paris’ posh districts to its working-class neighbourhoods.
The festivities came ahead of the Summer Games kicking off at the end of the month.
The torch made its grand entrance with military horse rider Colonel Thibaut Vallette, a gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Games.
Students from the multicultural northern suburbs of Seine-Saint-Denis then handed it to a relay in front of French President Emmanuel Macron.
And the torch relay joined up with thousands of soldiers, sailors, rescuers and medics marching in Paris beneath roaring fighter jets.
‘It was a dream to be part of it’
Joyful crowds lined up along the torch’s route on Sunday and Monday.
“I got super emotional,” BMX world champion Matthias Dandois said after carrying the torch in front of the Eiffel Tower.
“I’m from Paris and I grew up playing so much sport and watching the Olympics, and it was a dream to be a part of it.”
Thousands chosen to carry flame
About 10,000 people, many of them athletes, have been chosen to carry the flame across France, from the southern city port of Marseille, where it arrived on May 8, to the stadium hosting the Games opening ceremony on July 26.
Others have been picked because they represent art, culture and gastronomy, they volunteer for charities or are deeply involved in community life.
Dressed in white, the torch-bearers ran at a slow pace to the cheers of spectators.
French judoka and Olympic champion Clarisse Agbegnenou took the flame to the top floor of the Eiffel Tower on Monday.
Francky Mbotto, a 26-year-old middle-distance runner from Central African Republic who lives in Paris, carried it near the Arc de Triomphe.
“This is incredible! It’s so emotional. It’s Olympism that is being highlighted,” he said.
He added that the relay was meant to deliver a “message of peace”.
Another torchbearer, Eva David, a wheelchair basketball athlete, described it as “a real moment of jubilation”.
BTS star and garbage collector among torchbearers
Among the torchbearers who attracted the most attention was K-Pop icon Jin, a member of the band BTS, who carried it in front of the Louvre on Sunday evening.
“It was an honour to be part of such a meaningful moment,” he said, according to his management agency.
Jin’s relay drew a significant crowd.
Sofia Boukhabla, 23, said she had very little interest in watching the Games but rushed with her friends to see Jin.
“He is so cute,” she exclaimed.
Belgian singer Mentissa carried the torch as her songs were played. “Sport and music really bring people together and make us forget our daily lives,” she said.
Former World Cup winner Thierry Henry, who leads France’s Olympic soccer team, later carried the flame down the Champs-Élysées avenue.
Late on Sunday, Ludovic Franceschet, a local garbage collector, brought the flame inside Paris City Hall, where it spent the night under high protection.
Mr Franceschet, who seeks to raise environmental awareness with hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram, used the occasion to remind residents and visitors to put their rubbish in bins.
Some found relief from France’s recent chaos
The torch relay also provided French residents with some respite from recent political turmoil and a chance to pay tribute to victims of violent attacks in the capital in recent years, including at the Bataclan theatre in 2015.
Lassana Bathily, a Mali-born employee who saved lives during an attack at a kosher supermarket, carried the torch at the Pantheon monument.
Isabelle Kling took a detour from her usual dog-walking route to witness the relay.
“It almost makes me want to cry, finally seeing the flame. It’s a bit of joy after the disastrous weeks we’ve had,” the 70-year-old woman said, alluding to the recent elections in France.
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The torch will continue its journey in northern France and through the Paris region before heading back to the French capital.
The Olympic cauldron will be lit after the opening ceremony on the River Seine on July 26.
AP
