After much grumbling, Parisians have come to embrace the Olympics

The esplanade around Club France in northeast Paris, France’s official hospitality house for the Games, is brimming with people eager to enter the fan zone, watch events on the big screen, and get in on the Olympic spirit.

Sandrine and Lionel Joseph, decked out in leis the color of the French flag, have snapped up some of the last tickets for the day.

But before going in, they stop abruptly, share a pair of earbuds, and intently watch their mobile phone. French judoka Amandine Buchard is about to compete in the semi-finals.

Ms. Buchard fights valiantly, but is taken to the ground by her opponent. “Well, that’s it, it’s over,” says Ms. Joseph, shrugging her shoulders and smiling.

While many Parisians have ditched town during the Olympics this summer, taking advantage of an increase in tourism to put their apartments up for rent, that was out of the question for the Josephs. They met doing judo and say they put their vacation plans on hold in order to be here for this unique moment.

“The Olympics in Paris? It’s a huge opportunity,” says Mr. Joseph. “We need to take advantage of it.”

In the lead-up to the Olympic Games this summer, the French – particularly Parisians – had a multitude of concerns: Would the River Seine be clean enough to swim in? How much would security restrictions take over daily life? And the universal question, would everything be done in time? 

But after a successfully executed opening ceremony, which took viewers on a virtual journey around Paris’s most iconic monuments, the mood in the city is starting to change. Yes, the sporting venues have been finished. The Seine was clean long enough to host triathletes this week. Olympic organizers said on Thursday that 9.7 million tickets have been sold – an Olympic record. And despite some latent grumbling, the French do indeed seem to be embracing the Olympic spirit.

“There is something quintessentially French about cultivating the negative and focusing on what will not go right,” says Éric Monnin, the director of the Center for Olympic Studies and Research and vice president of Olympism at the University of Franche-Comté in Besançon, France. “But now that the Games have started, all I’m hearing from people is how they want to enjoy this moment of togetherness. They’re letting themselves forget daily life, have fun, and take part in the magic of the Olympics.”

“A totally unique experience”

Ticket sales to the Paris Olympic Games got off to a rocky start. Last year, Olympic organizers opted for a lottery system, offering “lucky” winners the chance to purchase tickets ahead of the masses during a 48-hour window. But prices for those initial 3 million tickets were often €200 ($216) or more each and people were encouraged to buy in bulk, putting their total price tag into the thousands.

Since then, organizers have opened ticket sales to the general population. In April, nearly 1 million free tickets were given to local young people and people with disabilities. Every Thursday, more events’ tickets go on sale online.

But the price and availability of tickets have not been the only deterrents when it comes to French enthusiasm. A July opinion poll by the Ifop Group showed that 36% of French people – particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds – felt indifferent about the Olympic Games in Paris, while 27% were worried and 5% felt anger. Those figures are up slightly from a May poll, where 37% of people expressed negativity towards the Games.

“The biggest thing that came up was the major question of whether Paris had the capacity to hold the Olympic Games,” says Baptiste Dupont, a researcher at the Ifop Group in Paris. Now, “we’re seeing less negativity and more confidence surrounding the Olympics.”

All the hardware the French athletes are piling up have people cheering ecstatically at watch parties and in the stands. As of July 31, France sat in second place for the medal count. Eight of those medals are gold. Three belong to the same man, French swimming phenom Léon Marchand. Wednesday, he brought home two gold medals, becoming the first athlete to ever medal in both the 200-meter breast stroke and 200-meter butterfly in the same Olympics. Mr. Marchand accomplished that feat in under two hours.

Still, some anger within the French population is palpable. In central Paris last week, protesters gathered to express their discontent. Many cited organizers’ inability to make this year’s Olympics truly inclusive – for instance, authorities have been accused of kicking Paris’s homeless population off the streets to clean up the city for the Games.

Others say the background checks imposed on those applying for a special QR code that is required to enter certain areas of the city during the Olympics are authoritarian and unethical. And some take issue with the Games’ carbon footprint, and want the Olympics to be re-imagined entirely.

“Flying athletes here from around the world? It’s an ecological disaster,” says Isabelle, a protester who withheld her last name because she is not allowed by her employer to speak to the media. “I used to do judo, but I will not be watching the Olympics this year.”

For some French, however, nothing can dampen the Olympic spirit. When the Paris Organizing Committee put out a call about 45,000 volunteer positions during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, it received 300,000 applications. Volunteers did not know when they signed up if they’d get a free ticket to sports events. They have since been offered one ticket each.

“It’s a totally unique experience,” says Kate Brilhante, who took a break from her acting career this summer to participate as a volunteer. Over the weekend, she helped guide visitors to Club France. “It’s not every day you get to meet people from around the world and share in this moment.”

Olympic vibes in Paris

Nowhere is the buzz of the Games more visible than in the neighborhood surrounding the Olympic Village, just north of the city in Saint-Denis. At Les Bons Vivants Brasserie, red, white, and blue balloons line the ceiling and, like most restaurants in Paris with a television, the day’s sports events blare out of giant screens. Across the street, superfans press up against the metal security gates where athletes come and go, hoping to get a glimpse of their favorite stars.

Having the Olympic Village and state-of-the-art sports venues at their doorstep has been priceless for residents of Saint-Denis, one of the poorest suburbs in France. Timm Jamieson, who traveled from Virginia to trade pins at his 16th Olympic Games, says he hopes to get neighborhood children excited about the Olympics through pin trading.

“I give them a pin, they trade it and come back,” says Mr. Jamieson, sitting outside with a spread of pins from around the world on cardboard sheets. “They’re starting to really get into it now, it’s so much fun. The Olympics truly make the world a better place. There’s no color, no prejudice. Honestly it brings tears to my eyes.”

As one mother walks home from grocery shopping with her son, smiling and pointing as a bus stops to drop off a team of athletes, Cai Zhanrong runs after his two young sons on their bikes. But then they stop in front of Mr. Jamieson, looking for pins to trade.

“Every time we walk by here now, they stop,” says Mr. Zhanrong, originally from China, who speaks in halting French and lives in an apartment across from the Olympic Village. “The Olympics in Paris are good. Very good.”

Read more of our coverage: Women’s sports are having a moment. The Olympics are showing why.