PARIS: The heavens opened up as Great Britain crossed the bridge at the end, but the excitement never dimmed. The egregious crowd kept cheering with all its might.
The journey of the writer Thousands milled inside the Seine A section where Jardin Tila Rossi (a hidden park in the Seine) was converted into an embankment for spectators. There were quite a few metro stations blocked because of security reasons and Parisians had to cope with it for this. Like all ceremonies, even this was difficult to describe.
The ponchos of the athletes were out. They were drenched so were the spectators but the spirit of festivities did not end.
Attacks on rail line before the ceremony
Paris woke up to a wet morning. There was rain in the air and prediction was grim. But what more worrying was the news of “coordinated and malicious acts of vandalism” on some of the busiest train lines in Europe. Almost all newspapers on the continent screamed with headlines about the incident. There was momentary chaos and the buildup to the Opening Ceremony picked up as the day progressed.
Yet, the news was a topic of discussion all over the city as travel plans of hundreds were hit. Reports indicate that three out of four fast lines were affected after miscreants burnt the cables controlling the signals. The Eurorail that also connects London and Paris has cancelled 25 per cent of the trains. German news agency, DPA, reported that the two athletes on one of the trains affected were forced to miss the Ceremony.
Whether it was due to the train ‘vandalism’ or a precautionary measure, a few hours before the Ceremony, a section of the Main Press Centre (MPC) at the Palais des Congress was cordoned off. There were conflicting reports within the premises but volunteers at the help desk explained that security found "an unwanted bag" and did not want to take any chances. More than two dozen security personnel manned the entrance and cordoned off an area on the southwest side. And entry and exit were also blocked.