“Which came first: my interest in other countries or my love of the Olympics?” It’s really unclear to international program coordinator Becky Cibulskis who lived her dream this year of attending the Olympic Games in Paris, France. Though it was a crunch to pack the personal trip in between professional travel to Azerbaijan in June and hosting Fulbright students from Germany through the month of August, Becky and her spouse prioritized the venture as a 5-year marriage celebration.
Our friends’ home in Bavaria Probst to international friendships Olympic Rings on sparkling tower A quick snack in transit Team Japan fans Team Brazil fans Women’s Football – Japan v Brazil Rodin Museum Chez Savy French fans with the mascot The Grand Palais hosts the triathalon event Eiffel Tower Stadium Rowing Events View of Paris – Basilique du Sacré-Cœur de Montmartre d’Orsay Museum Olympics Exhibit at the Louvre Seine River Cruise Recycling at the Games Paris Olympics welcomes us
Travel Highlights
En route to Paris, we made an important social stop in Munich, Germany, to spend two nights near the Starnbergersee with old friends. The train trip from Munich to Paris had only one transfer in Stuttgart, and flew by as the train reached speeds nearly 300 kph! In Paris, we balanced a busy daily schedule of attending Olympic events, touring nearby cultural sites, and tasting as much as possible.
Personal highlights:
- celebrating Team USA win bronze in Women’s Rugby 7s
- watching more than 30 represented countries compete in rowing events
- touring d’Orsay Museum – a structure originally built for the 1900 World’s Fair and Olympic Games
- cheering Team USA Beach Volleyball under the Eiffel Tower
Cultural Considerations
As one might imagine, traveling to attend a global event such as the Olympic Games does not lend itself to providing the most authentic cultural experience. Indeed, many directional signs in English were visible on city trains and in public spaces, helping to direct hundreds of thousands of global visitors. Thousands of Olympics volunteers as well as armed police and military presence were also regularly visible at transit transfer stations and near the major venues and tourist locations. Still, as first-time visitors to Paris, we embraced any opportunity to step into historical sites and cultural museums and to taste local cuisine on menus.
While not the most authentic French or even Parisian experience, attending the Olympic Games in Paris certainly presented a unique cultural opportunity to participate in modern global culture. Consumerism and media, for example, are key characteristics of the globalized twenty-first century society which were quite prominent through national team corporate sponsorships, social media engagement campaigns, and humanizing storytelling of the individual athletes at the heart of this event.
The Paris Olympic Committee, throughout the 2024 Games, also reinforced developing global cultural values such as Sustainability and Inclusion. To reduce environmental impact of the games, for example, venues for spectators as well as Olympic Village athlete dining locations offered at least 30% of menu items as plant-based options. Single-use plastic was also nearly impossible to observe in Olympic Venues, with beverages served in reusable cups for which spectators received a deposit reward upon return. The spectator app prioritized eco-friendly and accessible transportation when routing spectators from venue to venue across the city. The Paris 2024 Olympic Committee was also very proud to have expanded Paralympic spectating to the widest viewership in its 64-year history!
Recommendations
Spectating this global event has gone from my bucket-list to a lifelong highlight, and I’ve already applied to be a volunteer at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Paralympic Games! Here are some tips I share (and will consider again) for future attendance at the World Cup or Olympics, both of which are scheduled to be in North America soon.
- Plan early: In earnest, the Paris Olympics was a 2-year planning commitment – from budgeting and securing tickets to finding roommates for cost-sharing! Sign up for newsletters and email alerts and be willing to pivot your plans along the way.
- Multi-City Flight Path: Don’t limit your travels to the final destination. Many domestic and international airlines offer great options for 3-city itineraries or even a stopover.
- Ask for advice: having colleagues and friends who have traveled to Paris before helped us narrow down hundreds of options for food and sight-seeing as well as prepare for practical matters such as paying for transit and knowing which foods are not in-season!
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