The Olympic Flame

It is one of the most spectacular creations I have ever seen. It was magnified by its surroundings, evoking Jules Verne’s passage from Around the World in 80 Days,

” …Anything one man can imagine, other men can make real…”

I felt like I had stepped back into the 1900s, as if I were at the Parisian World Fair, one of the spectators standing in awe and filled with joy because of it.

…

If ever I had wanted to bring my “real camera and tripod,” this would have been the moment. At least, with my iPhone, I could run around to different spots by the Louvre and take in the views it provided without having to haul my camera equipment around. I wish Sacha were here.

“Imagine! It’s not a real fire burning in a cauldron. A flame without fuel ignites this hot-air balloon for the first time in the Olympic Games history. It’s an illusion created by a cloud of mist and beams of light.”

“Historians suggest the flame was born in a temple erected by the ancient Greeks to honor Hera, the powerful queen of the mythological gods. Her shrine stands in the home of the Olympic Games of antiquity, a cypress-shaded archaeological site in Olympia where the first recorded Games were held in 776 B.C.”

The Olympic flame is meant as a powerful symbol of solidarity and resilience, transcends borders with its light, uniting people in celebration of the human spirit

As it is passed from one torchbearer to the next, the hope is that it will ignite a sense of kinship among nations.

A 30-metre-high cauldron with a 7-metre-diameter ring of fire
Every day during the Games, 10,000 people will be able to get up close to the Cauldron on the ground from 11 am to 7 pm.
A flight more than 60 meters above the ground, from sunset until 2 am every night
A 100% electric flame without fuel, thanks to EDF, made of water and light

Stationed in the Jardin des Tuileries, the cauldron was never seen before in the history of the Games. French designer Mathieu Lehanneur came up with a new-generation hot-air balloon with a ring of fire.

Positioned on the ground during the day, the Cauldron will take off into the Paris sky at sunset each evening until 2 a.m. From hundreds of meters away, light will be visible for all to see.

The journey from Greece to Paris.

“While modern Olympic Torches have typically burned propane, this latest version (built tougher, to allow a fifth as many torches to be used throughout the relay) burns low-carbon biogas, a symbolic transition showing the importance of sustainability throughout the games.”