Paris 2024 Olympic Games: Marseille deserved to organize the Games!

Dear readers,

First, there are the origins of the second and oldest city in France. Marseille was founded by Greek traders 600 years BC. The Phocaean City, as all football commentators call it, was therefore the natural host port for the flame and the Games! Better still, its heart beats to the rhythm of Olympus, the kingdom of the Greek gods, which the Marseillais consult every time they go to support OM, at the Stade-Vélodrome (too bad, the oracles were not on their side in semi-finals of the Europa League, Thursday evening, against Bergamo). Under the protective gaze of the Good Mother, Marseille is unique, and therefore Olympic.

Then, there was this fervor in the Old Port, Wednesday evening, then throughout the city, Thursday - nearly 200,000 people. This breath, warm and singing, which crossed all the districts, from Goudes to l'Estaque. What a good mood, what energy, what enthusiasm. While in Paris, we are splitting hairs, we are still grumbling about the embarrassment caused by the Games, there, on the banks of the Mediterranean, we are inflamed! It goes to show that the cliché about “Paris and the French desert” has really aged. We will only regret the absence of Zidane and the illiteracy of Jul. Something grandiose happened in Marseille. Peuchère, as long as this healthy atmosphere is contagious!

See you next week,

Yves Thréard