Paris 2024 En Cinq Cents Jours

Where will you be in 500 days? 

With God, a bit of planning, several serendipities and a month's pay, my aim is to be somewhere along the Seine. 

That's where, rain or shine, the flotilla of French watercraft will transport athletes of the Games of the XXXIIIrd Olympiad as part of the riverfront Paris 2024 opening ceremony. 

A lot can happen in 16 months. It's perhaps easier to predict my location just after next year's 26 July, since the recent five-ringed ticketing sale yielded two wish list track and field tickets at Stade de France.  

What tickets did you secure so far?

It's also easier to predict my desired location in about 400 days, when the next Olympic Torch Relay begins in Greece. 

The traditional route from Olympia to Athens will be a fitting preamble to the flame's arrival aboard the Belem, a massive ship, at the scenic French port of Marseille, fitting as the Greeks founded the city around 600 B.C. (thanks, Wikipedia).

In addition to Paris' opening ceremony, my hope is to also discover ticket options for tennis at Roland Garos, as well as climbing (already sold out), diving and equestrian, one of the Olympic sports not yet experienced in person. 

Also curious which City of Lights parks may emerge as pin trading hubs (a personal favorite is Tuileries Gardens). On which points of the Paris map would you pin your badge exchange dreams?

See you in 500 days -- bon voyage on the journey and adventures that await us all!

Images via Paris2024.org and this site