Paris Olympics continue opulent and zany theme from opening ceremony

ABOARD THE YACHT L’EXCELLENCE ON THE RIVER SEINE — Every time the yacht glided under a bridge the security guy − let’s call him ‘Franck,’ not his real name, he wasn’t supposed to say − scuttled toward the bow, looked skyward and clasped a large white umbrella that he appeared extremely ready to put up.

Political agitators or others, he said, might try to lob ‘something’ on to L’Excellence’s plush teak upper deck, with its tailor-made sun loungers and parasols, enticingly turquoise plunge pool and yoga-and-pilates workout area framed by flowers and bite-size palm trees. ‘Something,’ in this scenario, could be garbage, paint or whatever a passing Parisian might find on the side of the road on a sweltering July day during the Olympic Games.

Meanwhile, below deck, the finest skincare and fragrance lines from France’s LVMH-owned Dior luxury fashion and beauty house were artfully arranged on a central console in a lounge area, where the whiter-than-white sofas were, L’Excellence’s promotional materials assured passengers, ‘elevated’ by cushions and throws in the ‘Toile de Jouy radiant Sun motif in coral.’ Nearby, matcha smoothies made from the powdered green tea were being prepared at a furious clip, the bar’s menu designed by a top French chef. Very high-heeled influencers did what they were there to do: they influenced. A former British model-turned-wellness-expert dispensed good-gut health tips.

After the grand − and not uncontroversial, or necessarily easy, for a foreigner, to decode − extravaganza of the Olympics’ Seine-set opening ceremony, the Paris Games have continued with, and even expanded on, the zany opulence theme. A boat ride down the Seine this week on L’Excellence, Dior’s floating spa docked at Port Henri IV, near the Ile Saint-Louis, for the next two weeks of the Games, is just one illustration of that.

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Want to go to a silent Bingo night hosted by famous French drag queen Minima Gesté who was also one of the 10,000 Olympic flame torchbearers? Paris has your back. At Club France, an ‘experience hospitality’ venue, you can get an Olympic-themed tattoo (a permanent one) or win an AI-generated poem.

The mammoth Louis Vuitton-monogrammed trunk − Louis Vuitton is another LVMH brand − that hides 22,000 square meters of a future hotel site on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées was there before the Olympics and will be there until 2026, when the hotel opens. But when the Olympic torch arrived in Paris in mid-July it did so in style – Louis Vuitton-style. It was delivered in a wardrobe-like suitcase adorned in the brand’s signature Damier checkboard canvas.

Now, every time an athlete steps up on the podium to receive a medal not only is it one designed by Maison Chaumet, yet another LVMH brand, but the matte-black, leather-lined tray is from Louis Vuitton. And the medal bearers are wearing an LVMH-designed outfit: a polo shirt, roomy pants and traditional Gavroche-style cap the makers describe as combining ‘exceptional savoir faire and creative circularity.’

Fenty Beauty, pop star Rihanna’s firm, is providing makeup kits and tutorials to volunteers who award the medals. In the VIP suites, LVMH’s Dom Pérignon champagne, named after a Benedictine monk, is the pour of choice. The cauldron of fake smoke and fire, reminiscent of a hot air balloon, that dazzled many during the opening ceremony drifts above the Jardin du Tuileries at sunset each day and has become a hot ticket at the Games.

Sébastien Bazin, CEO of Accor, the official hospitality corporate partner of the Paris Games that is managing nearly 100 residences and hotels across France’s capital, the Olympic Village − where athletes are staying − and various venues used by media and others, said in an interview he didn’t want to compare these Games to others.

He’d been to Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Rio and London. (Tokyo, in 2021, took place when the coronavirus pandemic put a damper on, well, fun.)

But Bazin described the Paris one as ‘daring’ and ‘just gorgeous.’ He said the energy and ornateness of the Paris Games likely reflected a moment in France when, because of a dire economy and simmering political divisions, local organizers, participants, athletes and fans ‘had been waiting for a long time’ for a ‘unifying’ moment.

In Paris, he said, they got it. The city, and those in it, seemed unusually cheerful and carefree. They’d ditched the gold-medal-level grumpiness Paris is known for. At least so far. There’s another few weeks to run. After that, there’s the Paralympics.

‘You have the lightness, the smile, the pride; also the efficiency,’ said Bazin.

You also have the celebrities and public figures.

They tend to show up everywhere, of course. FIFA World Cup soccer championships. The Wimbledon tennis championships. Money and access usually do. Yet they have really shown up in Paris.

Filmmaker Spike Lee and rapper Flavor Flav hung out at the women’s water polo event. Mick Jagger of The Rolling Stones attended the fencing. Actor Nicole Kidman, her husband musician Keith Urban and their children took in the artistic gymnastics women’s team final. Microsoft founder and billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates cheered on his son-in-law, an Egyptian equestrian star. As a CNN story put it, First Lady Jill Biden watched on the night of July 24 as her husband President Joe Biden told the American people it was time to ‘pass the torch’ on his political career. ‘Then she got on a plane, flew nearly 4,000 miles to Paris, where another torch was being passed.’

She only left Sunday.

Perhaps only the U.S. basketball games have so far featured more stars on the court than in the stands. NBA superstars LeBron James, Steph Curry, Kevin Durant, Anthony Davis − they’re all here.

Still, not everything’s perfect. There have been complaints among some athletes about the food in the Olympic Village and the heat. Not all tickets have been sold yet. France’s political gloom may yet resurface post-Games.

Martina Fuchs, a Swiss business journalist who’s been covering the Games for Chinese news agency Xinhua, said she felt the many celebrities and A-listers in Paris were ‘stealing the show and spotlight.’

Their presence, she said, has threatened to make the Games ‘all about money and not athletic achievement.’

Yet others have marveled at some of the breathtaking venues used for the Games.

Fencing is taking place at the Grand Palais, an exhibition hall and museum sandwiched between the Champs-Élysées and the Seine. The clue really is in the name. As a historic space, it’s impressive.

The Grand Palais has a nave framed by arching green columns and a vaulted glass ceiling that soars into the sky.

‘Fencing will never be the same again,’ said one social media user on X, after observing the event there.

Another posted a series of photos from the Games with Paris landmarks in the background, captioned: ‘There is no way the 2028 games in Los Angeles will look half as good when their best monument is a walmart or something.’

Aboard L’Excellence everything was, to be sure, just-so, though not without effort, if not Olympian.

A pilates instructor named Bryony put a temporarily pampered reporter through his paces as the Eiffel Tower hove in and out of view. The British wellness expert shared a sharp-edged truth about how there’s ‘no point in longevity, in living longer, if you feel (like) crap.’

The security guy did not once open the umbrella.

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