Spectators watch from a fan zone set up at the Hotel de Ville, the city hall, as Simone Biles, of the United States, performs on the vault during a women’s artistic gymnastics qualification round at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Paris has much to offer its residents and any visitor.
And with the Olympics as their canvas, there are personal portraits being painted all around the City of Light. They have powered through the weather — rain didn’t dampen their spirts and surging temperatures couldn’t cool their heels. They gathered at watch parties to see Simone Biles at her best. Some watched the games in person others just relaxed in front of iconic sights in Paris. There were a few who got to both.
Athletes are chasing dreams of gold medals under the Eiffel Towel, Champions Park, the historic Grand Palais or the sumptuous-looking Versailles Palace gardens and all can be seen embracing the moment.
Hu Xiao, from China, poses as her friends take her photograph near the Eiffel Tower at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Yasin Dar)
Juliette Labous, of France, is seen through a spectator’s umbrella while competing in the women’s cycling time trial event, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A woman sits at the Tuileries Garden, during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
A spectator walks through a water mist sprayers on her way to Eiffel Tower Stadium to watch a beach volleyball at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Harry Wilcznski poses for a picture in front of the cauldron with the Olympic flame in the Tuileries Gardens during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Athletes dive into the water for the start of the women’s individual triathlon competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Vera Looser, of Namibia, carries her bike down into a metro station while surveying the course through Paris streets during a training session ahead of her road race event at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Italy’s Filippo Macchi, left, competes with United State’s Nick Itkin in the men’s individual Foil semifinal match during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)
Pedestrians make their way across a sidewalk opened to foot traffic on the Pont Royal, or Royal Bridge, along grandstands used in the opening ceremonies, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Julie Derron, of Switzerland celebrates winning the silver medal at the end of the women’s individual triathlon competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
A man wipes his face as he walks past reproductions of artworks decorating the banks of the River Seine at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Technicians remove the pontoon for the start of the triathlon events after the event was postponed over concerns about water quality in Paris’ Seine River, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, at the Pont Alexandre III bridge in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
Canada’s Naïma Moreira-Laliberté, riding Statesman, during the Equestrian Dressage competition, at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, July 30, 2024, in Versailles, France. (AP Photo/Mosa’ab Elshamy)
A crowd takes photos at the gates to the Tuileries Garden as the cauldron rises at sunset during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
in a beach volleyball match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Tourists take pictures near the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
People watch a TV showing the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in a bar in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard)
Tourists take a picture near the Louvre Museum at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 28, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
An Olympic flag hangs outside a bar during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Saturday, July 27, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Jenna Baltes, 8, of St. Paul, Minn., holds balloons while walking along the Seine river in front of the Eiffel Tower with her family during the 2024 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 29, 2024, in Paris. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Germany’s Svenja Mueller warms up before a beach volleyball practice in Eiffel Tower Stadium at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)