Soccer at the Eiffel Tower

France vs. Spain in the Gold Medal Round

Dear Reader,

I will admit it. I know very little about soccer, or football as it is referred to here.

But I do know the excitement of a close game, and the French crowd was so excited when their team came back from a 3-1 deficit against Spain in the Olympic gold medal match last night.

There were thousands of people gathered at Champions Park Fan Zone to watch the match together for free, on the big screens, underneath the Eiffel Tower.

This Olympics is my first time in Paris. My first time seeing the Eiffel Tower, and my first time trying to chant in French to root for the home team.

After the rain, a rainbow appeared behind the Eiffel Tower

But the magic was there.

The French football team got so close to winning. So close, but Spain came back to defeat them, and the few Spanish fans in the stands were absolutely ready to rub it in.

Standing with Spanish flags behind their backs they chanted their own Spanish cheers to send a message to their European rivals.

We won! We won! We won!

Spanish fans behind me celebrate their win with chants and raised flags

So, just because I have a media credentials from the City of Paris doesn’t mean I get to go into all of the sporting events for free.

I would have had to apply several years in advance for that, and likely wouldn’t have gotten it unless I was with an accredited media news organization like the Associated Press or Reuters.

That said, I am taking advantage of as much as I can and I enjoyed being with the French fans again last night at the Eiffel Tower.

An iconic location for an iconic match.

I wandered the city after to take more photos of the Eiffel Tower lit up, but it had been a long day.

I got up at 5:00 a.m. to go and get a spot to see the men’s marathon swimming along the Seine River.

The cleanliness of the river and safety for the athletes has been an ongoing issue during the games. They tested it daily to make sure it would be okay for athletes to swim in it.

Some days it was not, but yesterday, the men took off and I got at least a quick shot of them swimming the first part of their 10km race.

I was surprised at how few swimmers there were, and how much thrashing about it looked like was happening. I can’t imagine trying to find my way in a river with so many people around me.

Speaking of finding my way, my phone isn’t working here unless I have free Wi-Fi, so I have been using paper maps and regular signs and asking for directions a lot.

I’ve spent hours on the Paris metro, which is cleaner than New York’s and easier to navigate, but I’ve still gone the wrong direction several times.

A shot of the Paris metro line before it got busy

As you know, I get lost a lot, but so far, I’ve found my way home.

More soon!

Your correspondent from Paris,

Janelle