Paris Olympics + more Europe

Our plan to go to these Olympics was dependent on sheer luck. I had entered a lottery to hopefully be selected for a ticket purchase window, and I was - back in May of 2023. We bought based on what was available at that particular time. Not all tickets were available for each purchase window. We were most interested in the opening ceremonies. Once we secured those tickets, we chose other events that fit the first days of the Olympics, archery being the most important given Brad practises archery at home.

The further challenge when you’re buying tickets a year out is you have absolutely no idea which countries’ teams you’re going to be seeing. But that wasn’t really important to us because we wanted the Olympic experience and had our fingers crossed that we would see at least one event with Canadians competing.

Our first event was volleyball this morning and the game was Italy versus the Dominican Republic. The facility was like a giant airplane hanger where a volleyball court and stands had been constructed. It was quite mind blowing. It was a close, exciting game. Italy won.

We had a bit of time before our next event – women’s rugby 7s. We were delighted to learn that we were going to see two Canadian matches, the first with them playing against Fiji and then later New Zealand. (If you’re unfamiliar with rugby 7s, it’s an exciting action-packed game that only lasts 14 minutes. Google it.🤣)

We were excited that we were going to Stade de France, the national stadium which has a capacity of 80,000 people. We’ve never been in such a facility and we were quite looking forward to the experience. We were amazed! It was a sea of people but so festive. Our seats were mid field and we had a guy sitting behind us who’d played rugby 7s in university so he was able to answer whatever questions came up over the course of the games. The keyword being games. This “session” started at 3 p.m. and ended at 10 and included 12 matches. And there was going to be no leaving early for us because Canada was playing in the 12th game of the session.

We absolutely loved it. Even though Canada only won one of its games, it was an entertaining and exciting experience. It was especially heartwarming to watch the two French matches and witness the crowd’s support for their team. Their cheers were so loud it was deafening. And France won both its matches.❤️Читать далее