That. Was. Not. Fun.

The idea was impressive. The thinking was outside of the box. The work that was put in was impressive. And the final result surely looked amazing on television. But the execution? That left a lot to be desired, at least on the part of members of the media that were there to cover the unique Opening Ceremony that the Paris organizers planned.

As most people probably know, the Paris 2024 organizers decided to bring the Opening Ceremony out of the stadium and have the athletes float along the River Seine through the center of Paris, with various performances happening along the banks and a final ceremony at the Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower. The plan was fantastic.

First and foremost, the organizers did not have any transportation planned for the media who were not at the Trocadero. Those who were there had buses leaving from the Main Press Center and International Broadcasting Center to deliver them to that location amidst all of the security closures. The rest of the press was asked to use public transport to get there. One of the nice people at the transportation desk told me how to get where I needed to get, but I decided that I would see more of Paris if I journeyed there on foot. I checked our transportation app and it was just about an hour walk, which isn't that bad and it led me by the Arc de Triomphe and down the Champs Elysees, so I was going to see plenty of Paris.

The walk there went great. I left early, probably too early, but I took my time getting there, with one missed turn (thanks to the nice cop who redirected me). Before we could go, we had to get a sticker on our credential and were told to carry our passports as well, as they would likely be checking all those things when we got to our location.

I was given a location along the Seine near the Louvre, so I made my way there and since I was early, the gates weren't even set up yet. I hung around the outside of the fences and one soldier did come and ask for my passport, but other than that, I didn't get any trouble. I eventually made my way inside the security border and wandered around the bridge a little. The media wifi was working there, so I did a little work, but there were no places for us to work easily.

That was one of the drawbacks. Of course, we knew going in that the event was going to be outside, but it probably would've been helpful to have some sort of area there were people could put the tools of their trade, such as their computer or camera and also get some work done if needed. Instead, I saw media members typing on the stairs up to the grandstands trying to file on deadline.

All this was exasperated by the fact that just about 45 minutes into the ceremony, it started to rain. It was on and off for most of the night, but never really completely stopped. I don't mind the rain, in fact I have worked in harder rain. But usually I have a way of getting protected from said rain. Like a fool, I had trusted the previous night's weather forecast, that said it would stop raining by 8 a.m. and I didn't bring my umbrella (which I patted myself on the back for remembering to put in my suitcase last minute and appreciated having today).

Additionally, there was no place near enough that we could charge phones and my phone died just about the time the torch came out of the River Seine right near where I was standing on its way to light the flame. The biggest problem there is that the information for what trains I needed to take was on the app that we use. Even more fun, my camera didn't like the rain either and also stopped working.

However, by the time things finished up at the Louvre, it had stopped raining, so I figured I could walk back the same way I came in. I remembered the walk in and set about on my journey. However, I ran into numerous different roadblocks, literally, along the way, with cops forcing me to take off down random side streets in directions that I didn't want to go. I knew where I needed to be, getting there was a bit more of a challenge and then it started raining again.

By the time I finally found my way back to the Champs Elysees I was drenched and I was pretty sure everything in my backpack was too. I took a break at about 12:30 a.m. at the McDonald's on the Champs Elysees, just trying to dry off a little. By the time I set back out, the rain had basically come to a stop. I was sure that the train I take from the Press Center to my hotel wouldn't be running after 1 a.m., so I was pleasantly surprised when I walked up to the station and the sign said "five minutes." 

I got back to the hotel around 2 a.m. Luckily the camera came back, the phone charged and the things that did get wet dried out, but it was a long day.

Watching what I could watch on the big screens along the Seine, the ceremony looked impressive. I am not sure what Lady Gaga and Celine Dion have to do with France, but that's obviously their choice to put whoever they want on the stage. The opening ceremonies always include some unusual aspects that some people shake their head at and this one was no different.

I am intrigued to watch the NBC broadcast of the ceremony when I get home (my YouTubeTV doesn't work here) and see what I might have missed. 

What I do know, is that the organizers missed a little when it came to planning out how their event was going to be covered. That being said, we all survived and that's important.

The boat of Greek athletes leads the parade up the River Seine on Friday night during the Opening Ceremony.