Seine spectacular: Paris Games open with light and wonder

Only in Paris could you bookend your day with a malicious plot to sabotage a global event with an out-of-shape middle-aged man painted blue wearing little else but a bunch of strawberries over his nether region.

The morning’s arson attacks on the French railway network, clearly designed to intimidate, threaten and destabilise the greatest show on earth, shook confidence in this Paris Games to the core. With the global order in a fragile state, many have feared this will be the most dangerous Olympics ever.

But rising above the fear was a three-hour spectacular of artistic achievement which went to levels never before seen at this scale. An audacious and, at times, outrageous celebration of one of the world’s greatest cities and rich cultures. It was camp, naff and wondrous.

It poured rain relentlessly. Those who had forked out thousands of euros for a seat were forced into plastic ponchos. Soaked-to-the-bone athletes literally abandoned ship to return to the dry and warmth of their cardboard beds at the village.

The night veered from the clichés of a huge cancan line performed by Moulin Rouge cabaret dancers, of a headless Marie Antoinette, the haunting Phantom of the Opera and Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables, to the defiant rebuilding of the burnt-out Notre Dame, modern Parisian fashion and multicultural faces of France, complete with house music.

There were ballet dancers on the roof of the Louvre, breakdancers along the quays and on boats. Performers were clad in handmade outfits stitched by French couturiers with Louis Vuitton trunk suitcases prominently displayed in a lengthy segment. A man on a flaming, floating piano played John Lennon’s Imagine.

A light show takes place as the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower are illuminated.Credit: Getty Images

Then all of a sudden, a metal horse and a mysterious rider galloped along the Seine. Draped in a cape emblazoned with the Olympic rings, she spread the spirit of friendship and solidarity around her, inviting the world to come together in her wake.

The rider, Floriane Issert, a non-commissioned officer in the Gendarmerie Nationale clad in silver armour, concluded her ride at the Trocadero. As she passed, dove wings unfurled from various bridges along the route.

She gave the Olympic flag a majestic entrance before it was hoisted – although the wrong way round.

Earlier, a figure wearing a black cloak, white hood and with their face covered by a dark fencing mask was heavily featured in the ceremony produced by director Thomas Jolly, and which included appearances from Lady Gaga, Zinedine Zidane and, for some reason, The Minions.

It was a surreal sight. The type of escapism one might need at this moment in time.

Politically, France is a mess, swinging between far-left and far-right, with the more moderate centre-right and centre-left beginning to disappear without trace.

Security wise, intelligence agencies fear the many global conflicts and protest movements could fuel a deadly attack here. Some of the world’s most notorious terrorist incidents of the last decade have taken place within France. Violent crime, whether linked to terrorism or not, is surging.

The format of the event required heavy security: 45,000 police were deployed on the ground and in the air, using helicopters, drones and snipers positioned on roofs.

By mid-afternoon long queues had formed for ticket holders to get into the highly secured perimeter along the river where 320,000 spectators were expected along the medieval-era cobblestone quays. The weather also tested the dozens of experienced ship captains powering the parade, who navigated at precisely the right speed to keep the show on track. Some spectators fled the quays for cover as rain poured down.

Tony Estanguet, the Paris organising committee president, told spectators: “France is often said to be the country of love.”

“One thing I know is that here, when we love, we truly love,” Estanguet said. “And between France and the Games, there has been a big love story.”

The Olympics cannot “solve every problem” in the world, Estanguet added, but he said the ceremony had shown how beautiful it is when “humanity comes together”.

“Paris will give back to you. It is the city of love. And for the next 16 days, it is your city.”

The finale was as breathtaking as anything we have seen in a modern opening ceremony, with a seven-metre wide ring of flames topped by a 30-metre-tall hot-air balloon transforming into the Olympic cauldron. A tribute to the first flight in a hydrogen-filled gas balloon, which took place in Paris in 1783.

It was one of France’s most famous Olympic athletes, Marie-Jose Perec, who lit it. Perec, the great rival of Cathy Freeman, won three gold medals in track and field over the 1992 and 1996 Games.

It has been said this week that the Olympic ideal is dead and buried. Paris has 17 days to prove that wrong. It has started in glorious fashion.

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