Paris 2024 Olympics 04: Rowing, German House, & Football

Tuesday, July 30, 2024

Today’s wake up at 05:00 was the earliest we had to get up thus far at the Olympics and it was rough. My parents had breakfast at the hotel while I got ready to head out for the day. At 07:00, we walked over to Gare de Lyon and took the RER A train to the eastern part of the city for today’s event. The train journey lasted about 30 minutes and then we had to change to a dedicated bus line to actually reach the venue. The bus ride took 20 minutes and then we still had to walk another 15 minutes or so to actually reach the entrance to the venue. This was, by far, the furthest sporting event from the city center (of the events actually taking place within Paris itself).

It was already blazing hot as we walked to the venue entrance. The weather forecast for the next few days predicted significant heat in the Paris area, which did not bode well for us (or the Games in general). Before heading to our seats, I stopped to get a falafel wrap and a drink for my breakfast – the wrap was tastier than I expected. There was a small tent setup nearby that had a long queue in front of it; inside was one of the torches used for the Olympic flame relay that spectators could pose with for photos. I wanted to do it, but the length of the queue, especially in the hot sun, put me off of the idea.

Event 05: Rowing

The reason that this morning’s event was so far outside of Paris was because it needed to host the rowing competition, which requires a lengthy, straight waterway. This area was beautifully setup for such an event, with a tree-lined waterway. The temporary stands were located closer to the finish line, with the remaining area open for standing room spectators. Our seats for today’s rowing event were in the second row, which were amazing! The only detractor was that we were sitting in the open with the sun bearing down on us and, even at 09:00, it was making it uncomfortably hot.

Today’s rowing consisted of three different rowing events: men’s and women’s single sculls heats, men’s and women’s double sculls heats, as well as the men’s and women’s quadruple sculls heats. The entire event would last for over three hours and I was a bit weary about sitting in the sun for the entire length of the event.

Each of the heats was the qualifying round for the upcoming quarterfinals. The single sculls heats, with one rower in each both, consisted of five separate heats. Each race began far down waterway – further than we could see from our seats – but the rowers quickly made there way to where the stands were located. The excitement in the stands would build up the closer the rowers got to the spectators.

The men’s single sculls had rowers from all over the world: Netherlands, Belgium, Thailand, USA, Cuba, Libya, Paraguay, etc. It was our first time to see an event with such a wide range of representation from around the world. While the ‘powerhouse’ countries had rowers who won their heats quite easily, there were other rowers who still performed amazingly well, despite coming in last. The crowds gave these rowers enthusiastic cheers to encourage them on as they finished their heats.

The round of women’s single sculls had a surprise for me: a rower from Vietnam! She was in the second to last heat and I cheered her on as she rowed by, but unfortunately, she came in second to last in the heat and did not quality for the quarterfinals. However, she did quality for the repechage round, which was something new for the Olympics. The repechage rounds gave the runners up a second chance to compete for a spot in the quarterfinals, which gave events a bit more excitement.

By the time the double sculls heats began, the heat was starting to get to many of the spectators, my parents and me included. We stayed in our seats for the three women’s double sculls heats. By the time it was over though, we decided to seek some shelter from the sun. I suggested that we go to the standing area since there were many trees there that we could stand under. Unfortunately, many others had the same idea and the standing area was packed with people watching the rowing.

My parents found a place in the shade to watch the rowing on the giant TV and I decided to head over to take a photo with the Olympic torch now that the line was much shorter. Inside the small tent was an attendant who was taking photos for people, which was quite nice, and she took some great pictures of me holding the torch. I then grabbed some cold drinks to help my parents and me cool down in the heat.

By 11:30 we decided to leave early and head back to town because it was just too hot to remain at the event. The rowing, while fun, proved to be less exciting than I had hoped. The rowers were only near the stands for the last third of the race, so we could only see them for a short time during each heat. The remainder of the time was spent sitting around and waiting.

After taking the bus back to the train station, we went back to the city center. My mom and dad went back to the hotel, while I went over to the Galleries Lafayette to once again try and find the France jersey shirt. The store said they had the shirt in stock on their website, but it proved very difficult to find their Olympic section. The store is a massive department store inside of a very fancy building, with a large indoor atrium stretching up several floors. It was a beautiful place, both inside and out, but it was jam-packed with people out shopping. I eventually found the Olympic merchandise on the top floor, but the shirt I wanted was nowhere to be seen. Deflated, I left the store.

I then took the train to a neighborhood just south of our hotel where I went to a small shop selling flags of countries from around the world. I wanted to get a Vietnamese flag to take with me to our events, especially since I knew that we would be seeing some Vietnamese at our upcoming archery events. The shop was tiny, with flags stored haphazardly on shelves and in boxes. Thankfully, the kind old man running the shop was able to quickly find me a large Vietnamese flag. Purchase in hand, it was time to head back to the hotel to meet with my parents. I decided to walk the 20 minutes back to the hotel, despite the intense heat of the midday sun. By the time I reached the hotel, I was hot, sweaty and in desperate need of some water. My parents had been able to rest and nap a bit in the refreshingly air-conditioned room while I was running around to different stores.

The three of us walked back to Gare de Lyon and bought a quick snack from a small bakery before catching our train. I had an iced coffee and a cookie, which was nice, but my mom ordered some hot tea which ended up being far too hot for her to drink much of before we boarded the train.

This afternoon we were heading out to the German House for food and drinks before our second event of the day. The hospitality house was luckily located right next to the stadium for tonight’s event, which gave us time to relax and enjoy the German food (and beer!). The train took us over to the Parc de Princes stadium area, where we had gone to watch women’s football a couple nights previously, but thankfully I found a closer metro station that cut our walking time down considerably.

German House was located in another stadium nearby, but it proved somewhat difficult to find the entrance. We had to clear the security checkpoint outside of Parc de Princes and the security guard was confused when I tried to explain where we were going. We eventually found the entrance to German House and, after clearing their security screening, we were allowed inside. I had hoped that much of the hospitality house would be located in the covered areas of the stadium, but it was all out on the field – only the expensive club access allowed visitors to go inside for a respite from the heat.

The entire stadium as decked out in Team Germany signage saying “Team D” in the colors of the German flag. Food stalls were located along the far side from the entrance, and there was a small stall selling Team Germany merchandise as well. Scattered around the field were various activities for visitors, including a slid-and-slide that looked very refreshing today! In the center was a huge jumbotron showing German athletes competing in various sports.

My dad needed to sit and rest for a few minutes when we got inside Germany House, so mom and I left him at some benches near the entrance while we scouted around to find the food and a place to sit. The dining area was setup to resemble a beer tent and was quite crowded by the time we arrived. Mom and I stopped to look at the various menus that the stalls had and I was happy with the variety of food on offer. We grabbed some drinks and I was able to get a proper German beer – the perfect beverage on a hot afternoon! Mom spotted an open picnic table under an umbrella nearby that we quickly grabbed so we’d have somewhere to sit for the afternoon. I then went to get my dad so he could join us at the table.

For our dinner, we all ate different dishes at German House. Dad had currywurst, mom had some pasta, and I had the rollbraten with potato salad. All of the food was amazingly delicious, especially my rollbraten. I could have happily eaten there every single day of the Olympics! We spent some time sitting at our table watching the events on the jumbotron and trying to cool down from the heat.

The heatwave currently engulfing Paris was making the Olympics rather unbearable for fans and athletes alike. Thankfully it was only supposed to last a couple of days, but the dramatic spike in temperature was having an adverse effect on us. As we sat at our table, my mom became visibly weaker and unwell, which we attributed to dehydration. I was quite concerned about her and I wanted to get her something to drink and find a way to get her out of the heat. It was decided that my parents would go back to the hotel rather than attend our event this evening, which I thought was the best (and only) option available. I explained to them both the exact route to take on the metro to reach the hotel (they would only need to make one transfer on the metro), and I then walked them over to the metro station. I had them text me when they got back to the hotel so I knew that they made it back alright.

I was sad to have left German House early, but it was also far too uncomfortable to remain sitting in the hot stadium. After my parents departed for the hotel, I walked over to the Parc de Princes stadium to wait for it to open for tonight’s event. All of the venues opened 90-minutes before the start of the events, and I only had a 20-minute wait this evening. Thankfully the area I was waiting in was in the shade, so it wasn’t too unbearable.

Event 06: Football (men’s) – Paraguay vs Mali

The seats for tonight’s football match were third row near one of the goals – excellent seats – and I was sad that my parents had to miss the game. Unfortunately, the seats were also in the part of the stadium still in the sun, so I had no respite from the heat. The only benefit I had was the two empty seats next to me, which let me stretch out and not be crowded in by people (which would have made the experience even hotter).

I was surprised by the large number of fans decked out in Team Mali garb (shirts, flags, etc), but it was nice to see the team having so much support in the stands. Paraguay had some supporters in the stadium, but it was dwarfed by the Mali fans. I decided to cheer on Team Paraguay during the game since they had fewer fans in the stadium, but I ultimately didn’t favor either team in the game.

After watching the players warm up and practice before the game, and listening to both national anthems, the game got underway. Even though it began at 21:00, the sun was still up and it was hot inside the stadium. The first half of the game was pretty good, with both teams playing aggressively. Paraguay managed to score the only goal during the first half and it appeared to me that they may be the better of the two teams.

At half time I decided to head back to the hotel. I was enjoying the football game, but the heat was starting to get to me quite a bit. Before leaving, I grabbed another cold drink to help refresh me for the journey back to the hotel. I ended up not missing much in the second half of the game and it ended with Paraguay winning 1-0, with the first half goal being the only one scored in the entire game.

When I returned to the hotel, my parents were relaxing in bed and watching the Olympics on TV. I took a shower to further cool down before bed. Today had been another good day at the Olympics, but the heat had definitely taken its toll upon the three of us.