PHOTO OF THE DAY: A GUEST COMMENT

This is part of The Courier’s Aug. 15 forum page and features a guest comment from a couple with a connection to the community that visited the Paris Olympics. Here is the account:

Paris Games, the people there, do not disappoint

Editor’s Note: This observation was written by Christina Jackman Schwendeman, who is married to Eric Schwendeman, a first cousin of Courier Publisher Jeremy Waltner. The Schwendemans have a home in Italy and attended the 2024 Olympics in Paris from Aug. 2 to 10. Afterward, she wrote this on Facebook. It is used here with permission.

I’ve seen a lot of headlines about how successfully Paris hosted the Olympics and they completely validate our experience. Eric and I were increasingly amazed each day. The city was kept clean, public transportation ran better than we’ve ever seen it, we always felt safe thanks to the tremendous police presence, and the thousands of volunteers were incredible. Not only were they helpful, but they were also abundantly friendly and set the tone for the genuine joy I think that everyone collectively seemed to feel throughout the Games. There was an air of fellowship and sportsmanship that permeated the entire city. Tourists and locals, spectators and athletes were all coming together in a way that made us feel like we were truly a part of something special.

We sat at a cafe talking to a Nigerian boxer who had recently lost his match. We hung out at a Metro station with the massive family of the USA’s Kristen Faulkner the day after she won gold. An Irish family basically adopted us one night at dinner, and now I think the dad may be Eric’s new best friend. We laughed with French bartenders at how carefully we try to pronounce “merci beaucoup” correctly because it often comes out as “merci beau-cul” (one means “thank you very much” while the other means “thank you, nice a**”). All of it set against the backdrop of, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful cities in the world (and even Mother Nature decided to join in by giving us unbelievable weather).

There was a sense of unity that refreshed my faith in humanity. Some of it was intangible, but a good example was that at every event where a Ukrainian athlete was competing, the crowd would cheer louder for Ukraine than for any other country. And we all cheered for France.

I could go on and on, but at the end of the day, it was pure fun and everything we hoped and imagined the Olympics would be. LA has a lot to live up to in 2028!