Archery and bistro

As many of my family and friends know, my husband Brad took up archery as a hobby when he retired. Hence, going to an archery event here at the Paris Olympics was top of the list. Today, we went to the men’s team quarter finals, semi finals and medals competitions.

The event took place at Les Invalides, which was built in the 17th century for invalid soldiers, as its name implies, and served as a military hospital and retirement home for war veterans. It’s a sprawling property and its lawns were transformed into an archery field with stands for spectators.

It was a hot day and the spectator stands were uncovered with the sun beating down on us. As luck would have it, it started to get shady from our seats down and there was a pleasant breeze so we were fine. The spectators on the other side of the field didn’t fare so well. They wound up in full sun throughout the competition.

It was an exciting event because France was contending as was the top-seeded Korean team. When there’s a French team in contention, there’s an excitement that’s electric. Today was no different.

The Korean team ended up with gold, France with silver and Turkey with bronze. It was a thrill to be there for an actual medal ceremony and witness firsthand what we’ve seen hundreds of times on television.

Earlier in the day, we’d asked a local couple walking near our hotel to recommend a non touristy restaurant at which we could have some French classics for dinner. We’d made a reservation and headed there for dinner to enjoy escargots and steak frites (and perhaps a glass of wine or two 😉). Perfect way to end another memorable dayRead more