The day after the magnificent opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, the site for reserving a place to see the no less magical cauldron went online. Enabling 10,000 lucky people to see the balloon each day, it quickly became a victim of its own success, before all the tickets were sold out. So it’s impossible to get a ticket and enjoy the show up close, at least on paper. Yes, there are 2-3 tricks you can use to slip through the net, and we’re sharing them with you.
How to see the Olympic cauldron up close?
Last Friday, the grand finale of the Olympic Games opening ceremony brought to a close the grandiose spectacle that had lit up the eyes of Parisians. In an emotional moment, champions Teddy Riner and Marie-Josée Perec lit the impressive Olympic cauldron together, before watching it take to the skies in a giant hot-air balloon. The day after this magical evening, we woke up to the same balloon in the Tuileries Gardens. And the icing on the cake is that the structure can now be visited!
However, once the dedicated website went live, tickets were snapped up like hotcakes. So the first tip we can give you, and this comes from the staff on site, is to keep visiting regularly to the site where tickets will eventually be on sale again. If you don’t have a ticket, you’ll have to wait until 7pm, the time at which the balloon takes off every day and find a small spot around the gates of the Tuileries. If you’re lucky enough to know a well-placed rooftop or have an acquaintance with a balcony, it’s time to make a few phone calls.
But if none of these options worked, we’ll have to hope that the city accedes to the request of the cauldron’s creator that it remain in place after the Olympic Games.