Souvenirs dex Jeux Olympiques

Ah, Paris! 

As I watch the beginning of the opening ceremonies, I'm getting a little teary-eyed, recalling both my personal Olympics experience as well as the many, many wonderful weeks and months I have spent in Paris. What a stroke of genius to use the Seine itself, the heart of the city, and the iconic architecture along its banks!  And, oh, how beautiful to hear the bells of Notre Dame ring for the first since the tragic fire (it's scheduled to reopen on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, December 8th).

The delightful boat parade is also making me fondly recall the thrill of our privately-chartered barge sailing into Paris at the conclusion of a week in Champagne in 2018....there is no better way to arrive in the city than upon the river. Even in the rain!

I can't wait to plan your next trip to Paris. Or should I do a Small Group City Break in 2026? (Scroll to the bottom for 2025 and 2026 SGT updates.)

Today I am also recalling our trip to the 1996 games in Atlanta.

My sister lives in Atlanta, so as a young person seizing an opportunity, my husband and I spent a lot of nights sleeping on an air mattress at her Atlanta apartment. She lived right in the heart of the city on Peachtree Rd, well-connected by public transit and on the doorstep of long-distance running and cycling routes. 

But if you want to go to the actual Olympic events, you can't just show up. It was a complex process with a lottery administered by snail mail (it was the 90s!), and we had to submit our entries something like a year in advance. You only chose dates and sessions of the sports you wanted to see, in order of preference for each date--you didn't know which teams or which athletes you'd actually get to watch. You had to provide your payment info and all of your tickets, whatever you ended rip with, would be charged immediately. Everyone in my family signed up for lots of events, so that we could at least be assured of getting SOMEthing! 

That "something" ended up being men's and women's soccer, athletics (track and field), women's basketball, and men's and women's gymnastics. And then there was that day we DID just show up at another event, hoping to get our hands on some legit tickets--more on that later.

Soccer in Birmingham and Athens 

Our first tickets were for a soccer match in Birmingham, so we flew into Alabama to start our adventure. The game itself was raucous fun, with the crowd chanting, dancing the Macarena, and generally having a swell time. The next day we boarded the bus for a road trip to Atlanta and the rest of our events. 

Our other soccer tickets, later in the week, were for a women's semifinal game in Athens, so we drove there for that day. Happily, our game turned out to feature the gold-medal-bound U.S. women.

Women's Basketball

In the weeks before the games, a neighborhood gas station was giving away a large US flag with a fill-up. Naturally, I brought my new flag to Atlanta. I unfurled it to hang from the balcony railing in front of us and was promptly chastised by the ushers.

We lucked out with our lottery draw and were able to see in the USA an action-packed game from beginning to end, but the American women showed why our team was the gold medal favorite.

Athletics 

We attended two days of track and field events (and fortunately only one of those days involved getting rained on, as you can see above). We rode the packed public transit to the stadium, and then went through long lines of security checks before we could enter the stadium itself. 

There are many events unfolding simultaneously in and around the field, so we were constantly changing our focus from one contest to another.

This is where the Olympic flame was kept alight for the entirety of the games. We had seen the torch carried through Dallas on its way to Atlanta, so it was pretty cool to see the giant Olympic cauldron in person, holding that same flame (even if I wasn't a fan of the actual structure).

Gymnastics

Having been involved in gymnastics in one form or another for many years as a student, club member, and teacher, these were the tickets I most coveted.  Fortunately, my father's lottery pick had the winner vibes on this one, and he was blessed with the purchase of four tickets.

We were there for one of the two nights featuring individual event finals. We saw the women's balance beam competition (including the scary fall of Dominique Moceanu and the gold medal ceremony for Shannon Miller), along with the floor exercise. On the men's side, we watched the finals for the horizontal bar, parallel bars, and vault.

Synchronized Swimming

This was a miraculous case of 'just showing up" and being patient. 

My sister is a big fan of this sport and she convinced me to just wing it (which is not my nature), since we had not had the lottery luck on this event. So we crammed our claustrophobic selves into yet another MARTA train and then a shuttle bus to the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center, hoping we could somehow find tickets to the finals. 

We were accosted by any number of people claiming to be selling legit tickets, but we didn't believe any of them. In the meantime, we heard gossip that at some point before the event started, any unused sponsor tickets would be sold at the little box office trailer outside the building. So we decided to just hover there and formed a line with other fans. 

The box office did not seem at all optimistic that anything would be available for this small venue, but we held out hope and held our positions as others left. Suddenly, just a couple of minutes before the start time, the agent raised her glass partition and started selling the leftover VIP tickets. These were premium seats being sold any face value. SCORE!! 

We rushed into the stands as the first team hit the water and we were thrilled to watch it all, but especially the USA team as it claimed its gold medal.

Away from the Competition

Of course, the action and good times are not confined to the competitions themselves. I had a lot of fun collecting Olympics pins, both freebies and purchased.

Many of the different countries handed out pins for their teams any the various pavilions and sites associated with the games. I also bought pins related to all the sports we saw. 

Above and below you can see my pin collection: the national team pins; specific event-related pins; and general Atlanta Centennial Games pins. 

It was fun to pull them out today and reminisce, and I hope you've enjoyed it as well.

What's happening with upcoming Small Group Trips?

Bravo, Berlin! (March 16-23, 2025): As promised, I offered this trip first to clients who had specifically responded that they were interested in Berlin as a destination. As a result, it is essentially sold out. I could possibly add one more room but would need to verify this with my local partner. I am accepting wait list requests for this trip. View the prospectus here.

Irish Country Idyll (May 14-28, 2025): There’s still ONE ROOM LEFT on this glorious escape to the Emerald Isle. Read more here and contact me right away to snag this last room. Naturally, there will be Irish stout in the fridge at our country manor.

Gems of Southeast Europe (June 22-29, 2025, plus optional land extensions pre- and post-cruise): This cruise aboard the elegant and spacious AmaMagna will take us from Giurgiu, Romania, to Budapest--to the countries of Eastern Europe that were sealed behind the Iron Curtain for much of the 20^th century. I have also curated an amazing private tour of some of Hungary's most famous wine regions and Budapest for the week after the cruise!

You can read more about the cruise itself here. 

OR

Interested in the wine tour and Budapest only, but can't take the time for the cruise? No problem! Join me for the seven day land package only! (I can also add some extra time in Budapest for you.)

Learn about the Hungarian wine tour with Budapest (June 29-July, 5, 2025)  

Wonders of Colombia (Jan. 28-Feb. 4, 2026): This brand new AmaWaterways itinerary is extremely popular but sails only very small ships. Mon Voyage currently occupies six cabins and we’d love to have a few more in our group. I expect the ship to be completely sold out and cannot predict how soon that will happen. Once these few cabins are gone, they're gone.

Read more here and snag one of the few remaining staterooms with your $400 deposit—contact me for details.