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France 2024
  • Alan Chapman

France 2024

A 54-day adventure by Alan Read more
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  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Paralympics Discovery Pass

    August 29, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 26 °C

    On another warm and sunny day, I went to the Paris Arena Sud which had three exhibition halls being used for Paralympic events, similar to Excel at London 2012. I watched goalball, table-tennis and boccia.
    The French spectators made a lot of noise when the French were playing table-tennis. I thought it was meant to be a quiet game so I don't know how the athletes on the six tables were able to concentrate.
    There was less noise at the goalball where the spectators were asked to be silent so the blindfolded athletes could hear the rattle in the ball.
    I went to the boccia at almost the end of a session. The number of spectators was fewer than at the other sports, which were well-attended, maybe because boccia is not really a spectator sport although the athletes and their assistants have to be very skillful.
    There were long queues at the food stands in the main concourse.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    First Shift in the Stade de France

    August 30, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    On a wet and cooler morning, I walked to the Stade de France for my first shift as a Doping Control Chaperone at the Paralympics athletics. I eventually found the Doping Control Centre next to the training track beside the stadium.
    Unfortunately, I didn't chaperone anyone so I sat in the Centre most of the time watching the Games on the TV. The other place we waited was in the corridor when the athletes came off the track and past the first part of the mixed zone, passing us before going through the second part of the mixed zone, and then to the room where they collected their belongings. We weren't able to stand or sit in the arena to see the live action.
    After walking back to the hotel after lunch, I stayed in my room watching TV.
    The lunches were the best of all the venues with hot food, a small salad starter, fresh fruit, yogurt, and even ice-cream.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Last Shift in the Village and Athletics

    August 31, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    The morning was cool and cloudy followed by a sunny afternoon, and a thunderstorm in the evening as spectators left the Stade de France.
    A taxi collected me at 05.00 for my last shift in the Village. I found a couple of athletes but the chaperones were released at 10.00 due to the lack of athletes to test out of competition now that the competitions had begun.
    I stayed for the final farewell to the staff and other volunteers, had lunch, took some photos, and then took the Metro to the Place de la Nation which had a bronze monument depicting the triumph of the Republic with a female figure personifying the Republc.
    After a cafe chaud at a bar, I walked along Rue Fauborg-Antoine past many ethnic cafes and businesses. I took photos and had another coffee at the Gare de Lyon, walked on to the Pont Charles de Gaulle, before going to the Eglise St Antoine des Quinze Vingts for a recital by the Japanese organist, Mayu Harada, on the relocated Cavaille-Coll organ. Guilmant's First Sonata Opus 42 was especially memorable.
    After returning to the hotel to change out of my uniform, I took a bus to the Stade de France for the evening session of athletics. The Stade was almost full with an enthusiastic crowd.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Wheelchair Tennis at Roland Garros

    September 1, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 28 °C

    On a sunny and warm day, I went to Roland Garros to watch the wheelchair tennis. I used the seat I'd pre-booked on the Suzanne Lenglen Court to see the British player, Ben Bartram, lose to the young Japanese second seed, the second set being a tie-break. Then I saw Gordon Reid win his singles quite comfortably on Court 9, and later on, saw Reid and Alfie Hewett, the eventual gold medallists, win their doubles on Court 14 after it had taken a long time to empty the open stands after a French player finished his match.
    The grounds at Roland Garros are very nice although, as at Wimbledon, there is not much shade outside of the two show courts. The grounds have sixteen courts although Courts 15 and 16 were not being used.
    As at the badminton tournament, all the introductions were done in English despite the event being held in France with French being one of the official languages of the Games together with English.
    There were longs queues at the food and beverage outlets. At one Coca Cola kiosk, the staff poured bottled drinks into reuseable cups. No cash was taken and Visa cards had to be used, Coca Cola and Visa being main sponsors of the Games. The payment for the drink of 7 Euro was taken on one handset with the credit of 2 Euro for using a reuseable cup being given on another handset. This all took time with a long queue waiting.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Shift at the Stade and Wheelchair Rugby

    September 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    On another sunny and warm day, I got up at 06.00 in time for breakfast and then a walk to the Stade de France for a doping control shift during the morning session of athletics when I chaperoned some athletes.
    In the evening, I went to the temporary stadium on the Champ de Mars to watch wheelcahair rugby. France defeated Canada in the 5th and 6th place playoff. This was followed by the Gold Medal match between Japan and the USA. I left before the end to miss the crowds at the Metro.
    The enthusiastic French crowd created a party atmosphere with their clapping, chanting, and singing Les Champs Elysees which was a hit in France in the late 60s after the English version, Waterloo Road, was a moderate hit in the UK.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Musee Marmottan, Auteuil, & Stade Shift

    September 3, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After early drizzle, the day was sunny and mild.
    I went to the Musee Marmottan in the stylish district around the Parc Ranelagh especially to see its Monets which were from the same era as the Water Lillies.
    Afterwards, I walked around the affluent district of Auteuil with its gated apartments, some arte nouveau villas, patisseries, and other smart shops. After a plat de jour lunch, I finished at the Eglise Auteuil after walking through the Jardin de St-Perine with its screen and seats on which to watch the Games.
    I had an evening shift at the Stade de France and chaperoned one athlete.
    The top tier of the Stade was not used midweek with the French holidays having finished, resulting in fewer spectators.
    I walked home just before midnight.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Fondation Louis Vuitton

    September 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    On a sunny and mild day, I walked down some roads in the Bois de Boulogne to the Fondation Louis Vuitoon which was in a building designed by Frank Gehry and opened 10 years ago. The galleries house contemporary art exhibitions. One exhibition featured Ellsworth Kelly and especially his coloured shapes on walls. Another featured Henri Matisse and his L'Atelier Rouge painting and the other paintings depicted in it.
    The building had a grotto with 43 yellow columns and mirror panels.
    There was a view of La Defense from the terraces on the upper floors.
    I walked through part of the Jardin d'Acclimatation amusement park dating from the 1860s which also had an aviary and animal pens, and I stopped for a snack.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    La Defense and Paralympic Swimming

    September 4, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    I took the Metro before exiting one stop before La Defense in order to walk up the Esplanade de La Defense towards the Grande Arche which, once I arrived there, I was told had been closed to visitors for a few years for cost reasons. There were towers of offices and apartments plus shops on the lower level, interspersed with sculptures.
    The Arc de Triomphe could be seen in the distance from the top of the steps at the Grande Arche which was the modern equivalent and one end of the straight line through the Arc de Triomphe to the Egyptian Obelisk on the Place de la Concorde.
    I had an Italian alfreso meal on the Esplanade with the Arche in view.
    In the evening, I went to the temporary swimming pool at the La Defense Nanterre Stadium for Paralympic medal events. which lasted over two hours. After the Games, the pool was going to be donated to another city or a suburb of Paris.
    Despite the crowds, I caught the Metro quickly on the way back to the hotel.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Penultimate Shift at the Stade de France

    September 5, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    The day was wet until the evening so I stayed in the hotel watching the Paralympics on TV and reading my guide books about Paris to see what was left to visit in the remaining days.
    I had a shift at the evening athletics session at the Stade de France, and I chaperoned a couple of athletes. Beforehand, I collected my volunteer gifts of a wet bag which had a bathing towel and soap inside, a badge, and a copy of the official Paris 2024 guide to the Olympics and Paralympics.Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Place d'Italie and Ile aux Cygnes

    September 6, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    On a sunny and mild day, I took the Metro to the Place d'Italie and walked around the nearby villages, the CIte Florale and Butte aux Cailles.
    Having walked up the Boulevard St-Jacques, I stopped for an alfreso lunch, and then continued to Pernety where I took the Metro to Auteuil to see some art nouveau buildings.
    After stopping for a coffee near the Radio France building, I walked to the middle of the Pont de Bir-Hakeim and down the Allee des Cygnes which went down the middle of the Ile aux Cygnes to the Statue of Liberty at the other end. The Statue was one of the four preliminary models constructed between 1874 and 1884 before the finished article was presented to New York.
    I took the Metro to Cite for a cocktail in the Samartaine department store followed by dinner at a bistro opposite La Chapelle where I went for an evening concert including part of Vivaldi's Four Seasons.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    FInal Shift and Blind Football

    September 7, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    On a warm morning, I walked to the Stade de France for my final shift as a Doping Control Chaperone at Paris 2024. I chaperoned three athletes, and met Chinese, Colombian and Brazilian volunteers. Other volunteers had included Indian students studying in Paris which enabled them to travel around Europe through the open borders of the European Union which they wouldn't have been able to do if studying in London.
    The volunteering in Paris had been very good. As one French volunteer said, it was good to just be part of something big, whatever your role. The French had been very disappointed to miss out to London in 2012.
    In the evening, I went to the temporary stadium by the Eiffel Tower to watch Blind 5-a-side Football. Brazil defeated Colombia to win the Bronze Medal. France defeated Argentina 3:2 after a penalty shoot-out to win the Gold Medal. The announcer was pro-French, encouraging the crowd with Allee Bleu, clapping and songs. Lots of large French flags were waved by the crowd besides the small ones.
    The Eiffel Tower was lit-up with flashing lights running up and down it. It was a spectacular sight in the night sky with forecast showers staying away.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Marathons and Closing Ceremony

    September 8, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 21 °C

    On a breezy, chilly but sunny morning, I stood outside the hotel watching the wheelchair and running marathons, some of the latter with guides who had to be as fit as their partners, who then went past the Paris 2024 office on their way into the centre of Paris.
    I took the metro to St Cloud and walked along the north bank of the Seine to Le Pont des Arts before having a late lunch at Chez Denise near Les Halles followed by my last organ recital at St-Eustache with music by de Grigny, Bach and Vierne.
    My last journey on Line 12 took me back to the hotel before walking to the Stade de France for the Closing Ceremony which included an hour of French electric music compered by different DJs.
    My final walk back to the hotel from the Stade de France was in drizzle.    Read more

  • Alan ChapmanFrance 2024Traveler

    Return Journey to London

    September 9, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Having had my final breakfast at the easyHotel and left some items of the Games' uniform for the cleaners, at 10.00, I checked out of the hotel and was collected by taxi to take me to the Gard de Nord.
    I saw Clare Balding, a commentator for the BBC's coverage of the Olympics, and probably for Channel 4's coverage of the Paralympics, at the Eurostar terminus plus the GB team who travelled on a special train, plus the German and Belgian teams who were sponsored by Eurostar and had a send-off from the Paralympic mascot and an umpah band.
    My Eurostar train left at 12.10 and arrived at St Pancras at 13.30, an hour behind Paris. Northern France was wet so it was a good time to go home.
    I took the Underground to Waterloo and arrived home 53 days after leaving in July although this was actually the 54th day. I'd been abroad 30% of the last twelve months since this was about the same date that I left London for Japan in 2023.    Read more

    Trip end
    September 9, 2024
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