Embrace the Olympic spirit in Paris
![Big crowds from across the world are expected for the Olympics in Paris.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15151787/cc96d23fe3d70c2eb047dac10fcfc0fda690834e-16x9-x0y0w8000h4500.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
The clock is ticking as France’s capital hosts the 2024 Summer Olympics (July 26-August 11) and Paralympics (August 28-September 8) — with around 15 million visitors expected to pour into the city. Whether you’re going to be among them, or eyeing up a trip at a later date, it’s possible to partake in your own sporty, Games-inspired Parisian adventure.
![Cycling in Paris has taken off big time in the past decade.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15151787/d10053271b182d5efbc7b4e1d2e698a8cb23a0a0.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
CYCLING
Evoking the language of the French Revolution, some Parisian motorists have accused Anne Hidalgo, the city’s eco-conscious mayor, of wielding a “reign of terror” this past decade, after she closed scores of roads to private cars and encouraged a huge rise in segregated cycle lanes.
More than 1000km of bike paths now traverse through the capital and its suburbs - including new, dedicated ones up to the Stade de France, the Olympic Stadium in the northern district of Saint-Denis.
In central Paris, you can now ride in virtual vehicle-free bliss past the Louvre on the once-congested Rue de Rivoli, breeze through formerly fume-clogged tunnels by the River Seine, and pedal pretty peacefully in hip and happening enclaves like Bastille.
Guided cycling tours proliferate in Paris, but you can also hire wheels independently, standard or electric, from the Velib’ scheme, which has almost 20,000 bicycles and 1400 docking points in the Greater Paris area (many handily located near Metro stations).
SWIMMING
Mayor Hidalgo is planning to do a public swim in the River Seine ahead of the Olympics to show that the city’s chief waterway is now safe for swimmers after a major clean-up.
Not only will the Games’ opening ceremony be held by and along the Seine, marathon swimmers and para-triathletes will compete in these waters, and in 2025, three lifeguard-monitored public bathing zones are set to open, bracketed off from the boat traffic.
Until then, you can work on your butterflies and breaststrokes in several pools, including two notable ones in the 13th arrondissement: Piscine Josephine Baker, a “floating” open-air 25-metre pool on a barge by the Seine’s Left Bank, and the Art Nouveau-style municipal swimming pools of Buttes-aux-Cailles, a quaint, cobblestone enclave near Place d’Italie.
You’ll also find pools at various Parisian hotels, including the Molitor, a funky address set around Art Deco-tinged former public swimming baths in the 16th arrondissement. It featured in the film, Life of Pi, and also made a splash in season three of Emily in Paris.
![Olympic tennis will be staged at Roland-Garros Stadium and you can enjoy gouided tours here.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15151787/fb7f96c858dc62dc96953dd331aeba1eb871efa6.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
TENNIS
The Molitor is a convenient base for the tennis, just an ace serve from Stade Roland Garros, where the Olympic tennis is taking place and where Australians like Rod Laver, Margaret Court and Ash Barty all won the French Open. You can go behind the scenes on a 90-minute stadium tour, which guides you from the locker rooms to the Court Philippe-Chatrier, where Rafael Nadal is the all-time “king of clay”, clinching a record 14 French Open titles.
Roland Garros might put you in the mood for a game. Register with the Paris Tennis website and you can book one of 39 municipal courts. Priced €20 ($32) per hour, they’re in a variety of settings, from the rooftop Jardin Atlantique courts by Montparnasse railway station to the ones in Bois de Vincennes, Paris’ biggest park, on the city’s eastern limits. If you haven’t packed racquets and balls, don’t worry. There are several branches of Decathlon in Paris, including one on the Left Bank’s Boulevard Saint-Germain.
![Enjoy horseback rides around the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles.](https://images.thewest.com.au/publication/C-15151787/4b1cd769a950aa69525b038bd8e374ce3121543e.jpg?imwidth=810&impolicy=wan_v3)
EQUESTRIAN
Saddle up for horseback rides - and perhaps a few passages, piaffes or pirouettes - in a string of leafy locations with tour operator Horse in the City.
Just north of Roland Garros, Bois de Boulogne is western Paris’ answer to Bois de Vincennes. Originally hunting grounds for French kings, this 845ha green lung has 28km of trot-friendly trails passing woodland, botanical gardens, and boating lakes.
Diagonally across the Seine from Bois de Boulogne, you can also ride in the Domaine National de Saint-Cloud, a lofty 460ha park crafted by the famous 17th-century landscape architect Andre Le Notre.
His masterpiece, however, are the gardens around the Chateau de Versailles, further south-west of Paris, and the stage for the Olympic and Paralympic equestrian events. You can also enjoy horse riding trips around the grounds of this UNESCO World Heritage site.
MARATHON
For the first time ever in the Olympics, regular runners will gallop (or trudge) along the Games’ marathon route, following the same 42km Paris-Versailles loop that the professionals will complete in a separate race.
More than 20,000 amateur bibs were put up for grabs, with qualifiers needing to gain points from a variety of sporting activities, games and quizzes.
You may be up for the challenge of another kind of marathon altogether - a dining degustation at one of Paris’ esteemed restaurants. A certain level of stamina - and about $800 per person - is required for the 10-course seasonal “land and sea” tasting menu at Alain Passard’s three Michelin-starred L’Arpege. That’s near Hotel des Invalides (the final resting place of Napoleon I, and where Olympic archery events are being staged).
Kinder on your credit card - think: seven courses for €195 ($317) - is the one Michelin star La Dame du Pic by acclaimed chef Anne Sophie-Pic. It’s just north of the Louvre, so after working your way through dishes like Normandy veal chop with artichoke and seaweed, and 24-aged comte cheese served warm with preserved fig, you can get your steps in with a wander around the Jardin des Tuileries.
fact file
To help plan a trip to Paris and France, see parisjetaime.com and france.fr
Get the latest news from thewest.com.au in your inbox.
Sign up for our emails