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00:00For more on this second Tuesday of the Games, let's cross to France24's James André in a sunny Paris, France. How's it going, James?
00:12Well, as you say, it's sunny and it's actually interesting. I'm here at the Club France because, you know, this place always had some people here.
00:19It was, you know, there were people, but not that many. And then this weekend, last weekend, things actually exploded.
00:24You can tell that the Olympic manias actually seized Paris. So you can see the line behind me.
00:29You see, all these people are queuing to get into this Club France. And you know why? Because you can't buy tickets online anymore.
00:36Because so many were sold that, indeed, the organizer cannot guarantee your entrance. And the line goes on. And it goes on. And it goes on. And it goes on.
00:45So what we have here is indeed something quite new, which is really people vying to get in. I've been speaking to them.
00:50They're telling me, you know, they're hoping to share the excitement, meet the athletes, and they really want to visit this Club France, which is true.
00:58I mean, it's a great place inside. Anyway, it's true that we've been reading in the press basically this week that, well, the French are starting to feel their Olympics are an actual success after having complained so much.
01:09Before, with all the main newspaper, Le Monde, saying France is having holidays from itself.
01:14Or, for example, Le Parisien, another big newspaper, who's been asking visitors what they thought, and visitors giving an average mark of 8 out of 10 to their experience in Paris.
01:24I myself, earlier on, went on and spoke to people on the streets in the Champs-Élysées. This is what they had to say, right? Beam me, Scotty.
01:35Well, here in the French press, we read everything, that these Olympics would be a catastrophe, that it would be impossible to move, and that there would be too many people.
01:43Parisians have fled. Well, I've been speaking to people here on the Champs-Élysées, and they're rather happy with their Olympic Games.
01:52It's been a fantastic atmosphere to come into. Everyone's really friendly. There's lots of volunteers around who are giving up their time to help tourists and help people like us who haven't got a clue where we're going.
02:03Oh, I'm loving it. I mean, it's a bucket list dream for me to come to the Olympics. Unfortunately, I was unable to go when it was on our own doorstep in London in 2012, so I was really, really pleased when I could get tickets and come.
02:15It's great. I'm living it like a party. It's really out of the ordinary. It's a chance to be here.
02:21The atmosphere isn't stressed at all. On the contrary, above all, you feel an immense joy around this exchange of cultures.
02:31There aren't many Parisians here, so it's nice. No, in fact, everyone's in the Olympic spirit, in the spirit of the Games, in the spirit of celebration. So I think people are really enjoying it.
02:43The opening ceremony with all the shows, the fact that people are really enjoying being here and that the French athletes are bringing back a lot of medals too, I think life has changed.
02:52Well, with sports arenas such as the Place de la Concorde, but also the Champs-Élysées, the Eiffel Tower, the Versailles Castle, the few Americans I've come across here are rather worried that it'll be difficult to better this in four years' time.
03:08Oh, I think it'll be tough, but I think we're up for the challenge.
03:11Something that surprised us is that there's no alcohol for sale in the venues. L.A. will do that very differently, I think. What is L.A.? I mean, L.A. has the sun. I mean, I don't know. L.A. has a couple of football stadiums and, yeah, you guys have the perfect venues.
03:29These days the French press is running article upon article about these Parisians that fled the capital and now feel they're missing out. Those who've travelled here on purpose, though, appear to be having a very good time.