Paris Olympics Day 2- Beach Volleyball, Eiffel Tower, and Trampoline Gymnastics

Two big events with a climb up the Eiffel tower in between! 

We had morning tickets to beach volleyball, an event I chose as much for the location as the exciting sport. We did it have it in us to arrive for the 9am start time, but got there around 10am in time to see 3 out of 4 of the matches. 

As these venues were created new for the Olympics, there were no seating charts to consult when we learned a few months prior where our seats would be. There was a lot of speculation on Reddit about which seats would have the iconic Eiffel Tower views and which would have their backs to it. Again, we were in the cheap seats, but I think we had the best seats. We were at the end of the stands and got really nice breezes to keep cool in the heat and had unobstructed views of the tower. Hard to take my eyes off it, but the games were great, too. One of the French women's teams played and it was fun to see the excitement from the predominantly French crowd. 

Austria was victorious in one of their matches

This venue had better food with lemon merengue pie! 

As we were watching the games, Jude said how much he wanted to go up the Eiffel Tower. I imagined that tickets would be long gone with so many tourists in the city. Wrong. We were able to book tickets for a few hours later (but climbing, no elevator). So from the event, we booked a nearby brasserie for lunch so that we could return at the designated time to climb. 

I have to say that I was a bit confused by the mascot. And more confused by people wearing hats of it!

Hamming it up in the streets! 

Jude declared that these escargots were not as good as the ones we had in London at Balthazar. Oh to have this kid's childhood. 

As we were having lunch, I saw a familiar face walk by! An ISA dad! I ran out into the street and stopped him. Lea grew up around the corner from the restaurant. 

The area around the Eiffel Tower was completely blocked off and you could only enter with tickets. We got our workout walking to the second floor! It was so cool up there. There was a pop-up bar and a screen showing games with lounge chairs. And the Olympic Rings up close and personal. 

Our morning venue! 

We'd last gone up the Eiffel Tower (via elevator) when Jude was 2 and I was 36 weeks pregnant with Maeve. We attempted to recreate the photos! 

From the Eiffel tower, we headed straight via metro to Bercy Arena for our next event, Men's trampoline gymnastics. It was the qualifying event and finals all wrapped into one. We had never seen trampoline gymnastics before so it was all new to us! There was an American competing, but he didn't make it past the qualification round. It was rather thrilling to watch as the men didn't always land where they should! There were spotters with large pads surrounding the apparatus and many times they had to throw the pads under the gymnasts as they were going to land on the sides or completely off the trampoline! After the qualifying round, there was a break and then the finals began. A gymnast competing under the "Individual Neutral Athletes" was dominant and so graceful. Two Chinese gymnasts got silver and bronze with impressive precision. 

Essentially, the gymnasts had to complete 10 consecutive sequences. It was free form so they could do any combination of twists and turns that they wanted, but it had to be different from the other jumps they did. The hard part seemed to be landing back centered on the trampoline (hence the falling off!). 

A French gymnast was competing who was obviously the fan favorite. The spectators surrounding us all had signs cheering him on. And though he didn't do great, he got a standing ovation, which was heartwarming to see. 

We stayed to watch the medal ceremony, but then beelined out to avoid the crowds. A really full, fun day!