Alfred N.Muggins Becomes An Honourary Frenchman After Watching The Opening Ceremony Of The Olympics!

28/7/24

    He felt like an honourary Frenchman, having eaten two Croissants for breakfast with jam and marmalade respectively, and a banana. Meanwhile en Paris, France, the Olympic athletes sized up for their dedicated contests of strength and competition. He wondered where they found their strength and devotion? Such contests were not for him, although it was surely a great spectacle. The best bit in Alfred’s mind was always the opening ceremony, not being that way (competitively!) inclined himself. Nature in the form of rain tried to make it as difficult as possible for the dancers, contestants, and performers. The ‘foreign government sanctioned’(Russia?) terrorism or sabotage of the rail network had caused headaches for the organisers and the French Government already.

    Boy scout Macron, the President, was, as ever, under pressure, and as ever rising to the occasion. Alfred sympathized and applauded the irrepressible leader! And the government was spending more than ever on security for the Games, a vast man (and women!) power effort to make the Games a safe success. ( Alfred was quite sure that even if Emmanuel Macron did not remain President forever, he would nevertheless live forever, and deservedly so, whatever voters may feel about his detailed policies.)

    Of course the French were not noted for doing things by halves. Look at the way they had embraced the Guillotine during the French Revolution, and the building of Versailles and the creation of a most splendid Court. Louis XIV had spared no expense, and no excess in the planning of everything, including the gardens. It had been no surprise that Marie Antoinette had been so profligate in her appetites and expenditures. No surprise that Revolutionary fervor had gone to their heads and Napoleon had tried to conquer the world, or at least change its systems of government and law.

31/7/24

    Alfred hadn’t quite seen all of the long opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics on that rainy evening in Paris. Despite the rain it had given him a strong thirst for all things French, history, pageantry, costumes, history, drama, and of course French music. During the Saturday following Friday’s opening ceremony, he insisted upon replaying parts of the opening ceremony to Mrs Muggins, and her son, who lived with them, which they hadn’t seen on the Friday night. They watched as the many teams from most nations of the world came together to sail on boats and barges along the River Seine through magnificent Paris. As always, even Alfred with his pretty dedicated geographical knowledge, a leftover of a childhood spent poring over maps, and carving up Empires of History of the past, present and future, and their possible alternatives, was still sometimes caught out by some smaller nations, who might have changed their names recently, or a group of islands or an island, long forgotten in the superpower politics of the world.

    The first chill of warning for Alfred came as he saw the acrobats costumed and colourful, bending on poles in the rain. At first he thought were they effigies or models? But no they were real flesh and blood! He quickly grew nervous, expecting them to fail, to slip or to fall to the ground. A female acrobat reached up to join the hand of another risking her whole existence on the frail grasp and awkward balance. He could hardly watch although they were hundreds of miles away in France. Why should he care so much? These volunteers risked life and limb for their moments of fame. Was it fair for them to risk so much? And conditions must be just terrible for them and for all the dancers, as everything was becoming so wet. All it might take was a slip or a wet grip! A cowled figure danced and jumped across rooftops. Alfred was on tentahooks, although he could appreciate the symbolism and the artistry very much.

    Alfred watched occasional excerpts as the actual games unfolded in the days ahead. The gymnast on the beam nearly lost her balance three times, but each time managed to regain balance and continue as if nothing had happened. The BMX rider, so young and so fragile, but she managed to stay confidently upon her bike the whole time through all the complex moves and spins. Some people lived in entirely different worlds to himself, and he wondered did she ever read books, or write one herself? He couldn’t watch much more. He kept worrying too much about them having accidents, and could not find it relaxing to watch too much of it. He did not have time to watch other people realising their obsessions. He still had too many of his own to work towards.

    The high point of the opening ceremony nonetheless, which he could very much agree upon, was Celine Dion singing France’s musical soul Edith Piaf. Although he had never particularly been a fan of Celine’s, he found her performance very emotive. Even though he had not translated the words and did not know exactly what she was singing, it seemed very much to perfectly reflect the soul of France!