Paris 2024 Olympics 08: Canoe & Water Polo

Wednesday, August 7, 2024

When the three of us woke up this morning Dad was still feeling unwell and coughing quite a bit, so he made the decision to stay behind at the hotel today. I told him that if he felt better later in the day, he could come and meet us in the afternoon for our second event. Mom and I left the hotel at 07:30 to make our way out to the eastern part of the city for this morning’s event. We took the RER A train from Gare de Lyon and then took a bus to reach the venue, just as we had done when we attended rowing earlier in the Olympics.

The weather today was quite pleasant – unlike the heat dome that had made the rowing event so insanely hot. The weather was overcast, which made it much nicer for us to sit outside for several hours. We were back at the same venue as rowing, but this time we had even better seats! We had a great view over the water and were sat in the second row!

Event 13: Canoe

The canoe event this morning consisted of several heats for both men and women. Up first were the six heats of the women’s 500m kayak single. The races started much closer to the spectator stands than the rowing, which meant we could watch the entirety of the race. The fastest two in each heat qualified to advance to the semifinals, while the third to seventh fastest moved to the quarterfinals. Up next was the men’s 1000m kayak single heats.

I was enjoying the canoe event quite a bit more than the rowing (perhaps due to the improved weather), and each new race followed quickly on the heels of the previous one. The 1000m races lasted roughly three and a half minutes each and we had great views of the athletes as they raced past the stands. The kayak was then followed by the men’s 1000m canoe single, consisting of five heats. It was nice to see a change in the racing from kayak to canoe to give us something different to see as well. I was amazed while watching the rowers in their semi-standing position in their canoes, with one leg stretched out in front of them – I imagine that finding a good balance would be somewhat difficult!

The canoe/kayak event was scheduled to last well into the afternoon, but mom and I only stayed for the first round of heats. Once they were done, the quarterfinal heats were scheduled to begin. However, the first three rounds had already taken three hours, and we were ready to head out by the time the men’s canoe heats concluded.

We had several hours before our second event of the day and I suggested to mom that we go tour the Château de Malmaison, located on the western side of the city. Luckily, we could take the RER A train from our venue all the way out to Malmaison, making the commute there quite easy, albeit long. When we got off the train, we stopped off at a Pret a Manger to get a quick bite to eat for lunch. This was mom’s first time eating at Pret and she enjoyed it very much – I even got us each a pastel de nata for dessert. Once we finished eating, we made the short walk over to the chateau.

Château de Malmaison is the former residence of Empress Josephine de Beauharnais, first wife of Emperor Napoleon I. She had purchased the mansion in 1799 for the couple to use and it was need of massive renovations at the time. Napoleon, who was campaigning in Egypt at the time, was furious when he learned that Josephine had purchased the mansion. However, the renovated mansion proved to be a source of happiness for the couple throughout their marriage. When Napoleon eventually divorced Josephine in 1810, the house was given to her outright and she made it her primary residence for the rest of her life. After Napoleon’s defeat in 1814, Tsar Alexander I of Russia visited Josephine at Malmaison, during which she begged to join Napoleon in exile. Shortly thereafter, she came down with pneumonia and died at Malmaison on 29 May 1814. When Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo in 1815, he returned to Malmaison briefly before his final exile.

There were very few tourists there when we arrived and we soon entered the house to begin our self-guided tour. Château de Malmaison is a large house, though not as grand as an actual palace. Nevertheless, it remains an impressive estate and once can imagine Napoleon and Josephine living a comfortable life at the chateau.

The entrance hall had marble pillars, with the walls covered in the same marble. Statues and busts were located around the room as well. The rooms throughout the manor house are all in excellent condition, with quite a bit of original furniture, along with paintings of the imperial couple all throughout the house. The lower floor container a billiard room, along with a beautiful sitting room. The formal dining room was fitting for smaller, more intimate dinners hosted by Josephine. The library where Napoleon had once worked was quite impressive, with bookshelves lining the walls and his desk standing at the far end of the room.

As we continued to tour the house, mom began to recognize Josephine in the various portraits that were hung throughout the house. Upstairs were the personal rooms of the family, including their bedrooms. Napoleon’s room was quite simple, with a small bed against one wall. Josephine’s bedroom was exquisite and stood in stark contrast to Napoleon’s own room. The bed had a large imperial eagle mounted above it, with flowing regal curtains draping down over the bed. The walls were covered in red silk and the ceiling contained detailed embroidery work.

Mom and I both loved our time at Malmaison. Mom had never heard of the mansion, and it was a surprise treat for her; I was glad that we had the time to visit the manor house during our stay in Paris. Mom marveled at everything we saw and it made me happy to see how much she was enjoying the tour. We both love touring old houses and palaces, so this was right up our alley.

After touring the manor house, we left to walk back to the metro station. Our second event of the day was also located on the RER A line, just a few stops further along the line from Malmaison. We had messaged dad to see if he wanted to come meet up, but he declined, saying that he preferred to remain at the hotel. It was a shame that he was missing so much of our trip due to his illness. We hoped he would recover enough by the morning so he could join us once again.

We took the RER A to La Defense and again made our way to the aquatic center for this evening’s event. Since it was dinner time by the time we arrived, I’d hoped to find somewhere outside of the area to grab a quick bite to eat, but sadly everywhere was either closed of packed with customers. In the end, we got something to eat at the concession stands inside the arena.

Event 14: Water Polo

Tonight’s water polo event, beginning at 19:00, was held in the same pool where we had watched swimming the previous week. They had added dividers to the pool to section off the area reserved for water polo. I was surprised that it was held at this location since the diving center already had a pool dedicated for water polo. Tonight’s event would have two games: USA vs Australia, followed by Italy vs Hungary.

The USA vs Australia game started promptly at 19:00 and proved to be a very exciting game. Both teams played very well throughout the entire game. The score was tied at the end of the official game time, which sent it into penalty shots. The USA scored more points during this phase and won the game. The Italy vs Hungary game was far more intense though, with the players being more aggressive – the tension was palpable. At one point an Italian player was ejected from the game after a lengthy review by the referees, though we could not determine the reason for the ejection. We only stayed for the first two periods of the match before deciding to head back to the hotel (Hungary went on to win 12 to 10).

It took us a while to get back to the hotel since La Defense is located on the opposite side of the city. When we arrived, dad was still awake and watching television. For several days he had been complaining about the Olympic coverage on TV since it was so focused on French athletes. I tried to explain that it was normal – each country would focus on their own athletes – but that the French coverage did showcase many other countries as well, such as Simone Biles from the USA. The three of us hung out in the room for the remainder of the night before bed.