Olympic Mania

[00:00:04] Rhythm, and Benef.

[00:00:04] Bonjour, ça va?

[00:00:06] I am Paul.

[00:00:07] I'm one of the co-hosts of the podcast Rhythm in Rome, along with my other two co-hosts, Tricia and Benef.

[00:00:15] Today's episode, I want to give you guys a little bit of lay of the land.

[00:00:21] The episode is going to be about the Olympic Mania, and if you were living on a rock or something, the Olympics, folks, was held in Paris this year.

[00:00:30] For those who don't know, I've been living in Paris for the past three years, so what I wanted to do this episode will be a little bit different.

[00:00:39] I had the opportunity to attend a lot of the Olympic events.

[00:00:42] I attended, for example, track and field, some of the rugby, along with beach volleyball.

[00:00:50] As you know, our podcast Rhythm in Rome talks about, you know, travel, culture, misconceptions, similarities of, you know, everything, you know, all in between.

[00:01:01] I hope you will enjoy the different interviews and kind of things that I tried to show about, you know, the Olympics, as well as was able to travel to other different regions in France and just experiencing, you know, diving into headfirst the culture.

[00:01:19] And it was amazing time. Now you'll hear me talk about with my interviewers, you know what they liked and so on.

[00:01:27] So taking you guys now without further ado to the journey. And I hope you guys enjoy what you will see are just some great interviews along with landscape.

[00:01:37] If you're able to watch it and hearing some of our thoughts when it comes to travel and culture. So I hope you enjoy until then.

[00:01:46] I'll walk. Hey, say wave to the camera. Wave.

[00:01:55] Wave Eric. Every time I've been here before, it's it's been always amazing.

[00:02:12] So and then just hanging out with good old friends makes it that much more fun.

[00:02:16] Yeah. So it's about the connections and the people that you're hanging out with and a good glass of rose too.

[00:02:22] That's all that matters really.

[00:02:23] Is there like Olympia, you know, Olympic mania? You know, definitely.

[00:02:28] What are your plans for the Olympics?

[00:02:30] Like what are your feelings and everything?

[00:02:34] What are you going to be doing? What events are you going to go?

[00:02:37] Yeah. Would you like the other ones?

[00:02:38] Tomorrow we're going, we're all going to see rugby.

[00:02:41] But it's fun as well.

[00:02:42] Chris is a rugby player, former rugby player.

[00:02:44] Cheers.

[00:02:47] Cheers.

[00:02:47] Santé.

[00:02:48] Santé.

[00:02:49] Santé.

[00:02:51] Vive la France.

[00:02:55] You know, what really sparked you guys to have a passion for traveling and, you know, what are some impacts that it has on your relationship?

[00:03:06] You know, as wife and husband as well.

[00:03:07] I think I should give this to the first question to the subject matter expert on travel.

[00:03:11] That would be my lovely wife, Erica.

[00:03:13] Oh, I can say my passion for traveling in a way was started, was initiated when I was a little kid because my dad is now retired, has been for a while, but he worked for the airlines.

[00:03:24] Awesome.

[00:03:24] I remember we talking about that in common.

[00:03:27] Yes.

[00:03:27] My dad worked for Piedmont.

[00:03:28] He would be very proud if I said that originally.

[00:03:31] Nice.

[00:03:31] And then several other airlines.

[00:03:32] Yeah.

[00:03:32] Even though we were not rich by any stretch.

[00:03:36] In fact, compared to other friends, we didn't have the nearest nice stuff or cars or house or whatever.

[00:03:41] But we traveled in a different way because we could fly for free.

[00:03:45] Absolutely.

[00:03:46] Take advantage of it.

[00:03:47] And so we went all over the country at that time.

[00:03:48] My dad was not big on getting out of the country out of his comfort zone.

[00:03:52] But as kids, we would take vacations across the country.

[00:03:56] We lived in the eastern part of the country.

[00:03:59] We would go to the Grand Canyon.

[00:04:01] We went to California.

[00:04:02] We went to Montana.

[00:04:03] Okay.

[00:04:03] Anyway, so just to wrap that up.

[00:04:06] So that was sort of where that started with my father.

[00:04:09] However, my eyes really were opened, I think, to my own passion for traveling.

[00:04:13] Okay.

[00:04:14] When I got a scholarship during my undergrad years.

[00:04:17] I'm an opera singer originally.

[00:04:19] I'm not really singing as much anymore, but studied that in school.

[00:04:23] And I won a scholarship to do overseas.

[00:04:26] Right.

[00:04:26] Study abroad for the summer at a, it was an art song coaching festival sort of thing in Nice, France.

[00:04:35] And that was my first.

[00:04:36] Which is gorgeous by the way.

[00:04:38] If anybody has never been, I highly recommend to go.

[00:04:40] So I spent two months, like in two consecutive summers there.

[00:04:45] When I was, I guess, like 18 and 19, I think about that.

[00:04:49] Yes.

[00:04:49] And after the first year I went with my voyage teacher.

[00:04:53] We did the program in France.

[00:04:55] We took a week around Italy.

[00:04:57] And then to Germany and did another singing program.

[00:05:00] It was just those three countries that first time, but it completely opened my eyes to the rest of the world.

[00:05:06] That's so amazing.

[00:05:07] And I got bitten by the travel bug.

[00:05:09] Okay.

[00:05:09] And that's how it usually happens.

[00:05:11] You do one small thing and then all of a sudden, but how about you, Chris?

[00:05:15] How did you get bitten by the travel bug?

[00:05:17] So the travel bug for me, as you may know, I do have a deep appreciation for history.

[00:05:24] Ever since I was a young child, I always had a love of reading about history and especially castles throughout Europe.

[00:05:30] Yes.

[00:05:31] So my opportunity for first international travel was through the army.

[00:05:35] I was a young soldier.

[00:05:37] I managed to make my way over to Germany.

[00:05:40] And ever since then, back in the early nineties, it's just, I just want to go and check out all the spots.

[00:05:47] Right.

[00:05:47] And now that most of Europe is open up, just going and seeing all the historical sites, anything from pre Roman history to modern history.

[00:05:56] I just love it.

[00:05:56] And the interactions with the people make it just even that much better, just because you get to learn first person about what their experiences are and how they perceive their own histories as compared to, you know, how people in other places that are maybe a little more provincial love hearing their personal stories and get a better understanding of history through their lens.

[00:06:18] That's what kind of sparked that fire with me.

[00:06:24] What are some misconceptions and travel that you've experienced while you've been doing all your travels and stuff?

[00:06:29] The funny thing is with misconceptions is that there's always going to be misconceptions no matter what.

[00:06:34] And the best way, I think, to combat it is have a good sense of humor about it and try and educate people as best you can.

[00:06:42] You know, you just talk to some people and just educate them on the land you're from and try and open their minds to who you are as an individual and a person.

[00:06:52] We just had a great experience not that long ago in Moldova when we went to the very far north of it.

[00:07:01] And we met with a nice young gentleman who was in the tech sector and we had a great conversation.

[00:07:07] He was educating us on his very small town in the far north of Moldova.

[00:07:12] Oh, wow.

[00:07:12] Really nearly on the border with Ukraine separated by a river.

[00:07:16] And it was such a fantastic experience just talking to some locals and having a great conversation with them.

[00:07:21] So, outside of singing, which was my career and is a major passion.

[00:07:26] One of my other passions pretty much my entire life, never as a profession until recently, is sports and fitness.

[00:07:33] You know, like all of us.

[00:07:35] I do a lot of yoga.

[00:07:36] I'm also a yoga teacher.

[00:07:38] And it does help with stress and relaxation and all this other stuff.

[00:07:44] Stress, absolutely.

[00:07:45] While traveling and stuff like that.

[00:07:46] And just sort of finding your center, but also physically like you're sleeping in different beds every night.

[00:07:51] That's a good point.

[00:07:52] You're traveling, you're spending long hours on a plane or a train.

[00:07:54] So, the physical part of yoga too, the stretching, I do that pretty regularly when I'm traveling.

[00:07:59] Even if it's just 20-30 minutes in my hotel room, sometimes longer.

[00:08:02] Got you.

[00:08:03] Sometimes I find a nice park or something like this and I do some on my own.

[00:08:06] Yeah.

[00:08:06] But sometimes it's just, yeah, a quick thing, but also just fitness.

[00:08:10] A lot of times I will book a hotel that has a gym.

[00:08:14] If it's all the same otherwise, I will absolutely pick one that has a gym.

[00:08:17] That'll be my deciding factor.

[00:08:24] Hey there everyone.

[00:08:26] We are back on the road.

[00:08:28] You have noticed we're not in Paris.

[00:08:30] We're in a city called Kong.

[00:08:35] And I think what I'm going to do is while we're doing this Olympic mania,

[00:08:40] we're going to start filming and our journey of all the shit that we're doing while here doing all the Olympic stuff.

[00:08:49] We don't have any events right now, but while we're not having any events, myself, Erica, Chris,

[00:08:58] we're going to be traveling the northern part of France.

[00:09:02] And where are we going first, Erica?

[00:09:04] Uh, Mont Saint-Michel.

[00:09:05] It's a small.

[00:09:06] I've never been, so I'm excited about that.

[00:09:08] So we decided to do all that.

[00:09:10] We're about two hours outside of Paris.

[00:09:12] So we're going to do all this stuff.

[00:09:14] So you guys are going to see a little bit of video clips here and there from us doing all kinds of crazy shit

[00:09:18] because that's what we crazy Americans do.

[00:09:21] We just love traveling in a lot of, uh, culture bullshit stuff.

[00:09:25] Again, don't get sensitive.

[00:09:27] I don't mean bullshit as in what the word says.

[00:09:30] Just watch, we enjoy, and we'll take you along our journey.

[00:09:34] Say hi, Chris.

[00:09:35] Hello.

[00:09:37] We're at Mont Saint-Michel.

[00:09:39] I just wanted to give you a little bit of the, uh, view here.

[00:09:43] Um, let me flip it over.

[00:09:46] I hope you guys can hear me because I forgot the mics.

[00:09:49] It's a bit windy here and I'm screaming on purpose.

[00:09:54] So this was one of the places that I've always wanted to come to see.

[00:09:57] I haven't had any time to do it.

[00:10:00] And we're finally here and we're excited.

[00:10:02] We're going to do a, um, what is it?

[00:10:04] What is it called?

[00:10:05] The tour.

[00:10:06] What is it?

[00:10:07] We're going to go tour the abbey, which is the entire island basically.

[00:10:10] So we're going to tour the entire island.

[00:10:11] And you saw what it looked like.

[00:10:13] It's literally before high tide or whatever it is, the water comes in and all this other

[00:10:17] good stuff.

[00:10:19] But, um, it's really cool.

[00:10:21] It's pretty Game of Thrones-ish.

[00:10:23] So, um, pretty excited.

[00:10:26] And, uh, yeah, I'll, you'll hear me and see me coming in and out of this damn thing.

[00:10:32] And it's going to be cool.

[00:10:34] I don't know the history of it, so I'm sorry I won't be able to tell you.

[00:10:37] And I asked Erica if she doesn't want to give.

[00:10:40] I don't know yet.

[00:10:42] We're about to go get a tour.

[00:10:42] Well, tell me what you think it might be.

[00:10:46] I said I don't think that the actual island itself is of much historical significance,

[00:10:52] other than the fact that it's a famous abbey that's been there forever.

[00:10:55] But mostly what's, what it's known for is the fact that it's gorgeous.

[00:10:59] Okay.

[00:10:59] People have been coming here because it's an isolated abbey on this peninsula of land

[00:11:03] where, like, it gets covered at high tide.

[00:11:06] And it's really, that's what it's known for.

[00:11:08] Alright.

[00:11:08] From what I know.

[00:11:09] Well then, people, stay tuned!

[00:11:11] Ask us in like two hours.

[00:11:13] Yeah, ask us in, yeah, ask us in two hours.

[00:11:16] Bear with us.

[00:11:17] We're just fucking excited and we're wanting to do this shit right now.

[00:11:20] Right, Chris?

[00:11:21] Um, and Chris is our bodyguard because he doesn't like to smile too much.

[00:11:26] But we're having so much fun.

[00:11:27] I promise you.

[00:11:28] Um, stay tuned.

[00:11:30] I'll show you guys some more.

[00:11:31] We'll talk a little bit more.

[00:11:33] I have no idea why I'm cursing so much.

[00:11:34] I apologize.

[00:11:37] But, it's because I'm outside of Paris now.

[00:11:40] So anyway, I'll be on my best behavior.

[00:11:42] Stay tuned.

[00:11:43] We'll be talking a little bit more about that and getting a good more feel of the historical facts of this place.

[00:11:51] Sure.

[00:11:51] And so on.

[00:11:57] What up?

[00:11:57] What up?

[00:11:58] Good morning.

[00:11:59] Is it morning?

[00:11:59] No, it's afternoon.

[00:12:00] Indeed.

[00:12:01] So this is like day two of the Normandy excursion and adventures.

[00:12:06] Say hello, Erica, Christopher, AKA Chris.

[00:12:12] We are now at...

[00:12:13] I can't even say the word right.

[00:12:15] Point to Hawk.

[00:12:16] Point to Hawk.

[00:12:17] Point to Hawk.

[00:12:17] Well, basically the cliffs.

[00:12:18] Point to Hawk on English.

[00:12:19] Point to Hawk on English.

[00:12:20] And we're just doing the history lessons of D-Day and all the heroic of everything that's happening to save this part of the region.

[00:12:32] So far, Erica, what did you like so far?

[00:12:36] Normandy.

[00:12:36] Normandy.

[00:12:37] Oh, Normandy.

[00:12:37] I thought you were in this video.

[00:12:38] Yeah.

[00:12:39] I was like, now I'm about to cry.

[00:12:39] Oh yeah, we just saw a video of stuff.

[00:12:41] Just some...

[00:12:42] But I was just curious.

[00:12:43] What is your take so far?

[00:12:45] How do you like Normandy?

[00:12:46] I know it was over clouds today, but it was pretty nice weather.

[00:12:50] Yeah, it's a beautiful region.

[00:12:52] Yeah?

[00:12:53] It's striking in that...

[00:12:55] Can we go over here?

[00:12:56] Some of the places we went yesterday in particular, like going along the beach, Omaha Beach and all where these...

[00:13:02] Yes.

[00:13:03] Literally like thousands of people died.

[00:13:06] We could imagine that.

[00:13:07] Yeah.

[00:13:08] It's...

[00:13:08] In a way, it's actually, I think, pleasant to see how now it's just families running around and kids smiling and laughing and people using the beach.

[00:13:15] Because I feel like that's what those...

[00:13:17] All those men who died on the shores...

[00:13:19] But here's one thing...

[00:13:20] Would have wanted was that it was...

[00:13:22] Yeah.

[00:13:23] Now peaceful and happy.

[00:13:24] Well, one thing we did that I didn't even know and I just learned about it.

[00:13:27] This is why it's good to travel.

[00:13:29] But we also noticed something when we went to Omaha Beach where the statues or where the monuments were.

[00:13:37] Yeah, monument, whatever.

[00:13:37] Whatever.

[00:13:38] And even though, you know, I thought it was and you did too as well on why would people use it to put... to make themselves... cover themselves from shade.

[00:13:49] So it was kind of like my mind, would you agree, disrespectful?

[00:13:53] Yeah.

[00:13:54] I mean, on the one hand, I think it's disrespectful that they're like literally leaning against this monument that's installed there...

[00:14:00] For shade, yeah.

[00:14:01] ...on the beach for shade and whatever to sit out of the sun.

[00:14:04] Um, on the other hand, like I said, there's a part of me that's like...

[00:14:07] These guys who gave their lives there really have been upset.

[00:14:10] They've... most of them probably did this so that families could come and have fun and not have to worry about this stuff and not have to...

[00:14:16] You know.

[00:14:17] Yeah.

[00:14:17] But it's a gorgeous...

[00:14:19] It's a little of both.

[00:14:20] I think they've done...

[00:14:20] It's a little of both.

[00:14:21] But I just thought, you know, if they're gonna do something like that, the point is, is not to use it for shade or anything like that.

[00:14:28] The monuments are there for one reason and one reason only.

[00:14:31] And it's to respect it.

[00:14:32] But just wanted to get your thoughts on that.

[00:14:34] So now we're gonna go and enjoy learning more about, you know, the battles in Pantahok and so on.

[00:14:43] Until next time, you'll see.

[00:14:46] We'll continue with our discovery and our journey.

[00:14:49] Au revoir.

[00:14:53] We are now in a...

[00:14:59] I'm gonna screw this up.

[00:15:00] But let me just explain it to you.

[00:15:02] As I was saying, I was gonna be visiting all the northern parts of France and Normandy.

[00:15:10] And this is an interesting place that we're traveling to.

[00:15:13] Myself, Chris over here, and Erica.

[00:15:16] I'm saying, hi guys.

[00:15:17] We're doing the history part of things.

[00:15:21] Now, one of the things that is interesting is that we are at, and I will show a little bit, but we are at a cemetery memorial for Germans.

[00:15:32] So, Chris, correct?

[00:15:33] Correct.

[00:15:35] For me, I'm confused.

[00:15:37] But I'm gonna hear and learn more about it kind of thing because this is World War II, and I'm trying to figure out why would you have any for the Germans.

[00:15:45] But, you know, this is the stuff that obviously opens your mind to different things.

[00:15:50] So, as we look around and stuff like that, I'm gonna just show a little bit of where we are at.

[00:15:58] Beautiful cemetery, by the way.

[00:16:01] This is just the outside of it.

[00:16:06] And, as you can see, it's off the highway kind of thing.

[00:16:09] But, the goal is to obviously, you know, open your mind to things and being able to understand, you know, things that you haven't really knew about.

[00:16:21] Because, obviously, I'm thinking to myself, it's about World War II, and it's, you know, obviously the Germans started World War II.

[00:16:30] And I'm trying to figure out why would you have such a beautiful cemetery as you can see here.

[00:16:36] That's very well kept.

[00:16:38] And we're gonna learn a little bit about it.

[00:16:40] And we saw this, and we said, yeah, let's go check it out and see what's what.

[00:16:44] So, stay tuned again.

[00:16:46] I think this is great.

[00:16:48] The weather is great.

[00:16:49] And, as I said, you know, while we're waiting, you know, to not, you know, we don't have any Olympic tickets until later on next week.

[00:17:00] And we're just gonna tour around the northern part of France, specifically Normandy area and stuff like that.

[00:17:08] So, stay tuned.

[00:17:10] And I will be bringing you, you know, live updates of some of the places that we go and talk a bit more on why do we want to do it again and stuff like this.

[00:17:19] But it will be great.

[00:17:21] Well, that, that was amazing.

[00:17:24] Yeah.

[00:17:25] Thank you for like doing all that little videos and putting it all together.

[00:17:30] You wish, I wish I was there.

[00:17:31] In fact, my dad was like, I thought you were going to the Olympics.

[00:17:35] Yeah.

[00:17:35] I thought you guys were all gonna try to make it out here because it would have been, it would have been much fun.

[00:17:40] And it was spontaneous really when we said we're gonna go.

[00:17:43] And when we don't have tickets, because we didn't go to all the events, of course, but we went to, you know, three or four different events.

[00:17:50] You had a good amount of events.

[00:17:52] Yeah, you did.

[00:17:54] We went to, yeah, we went and we saw some, my favorite sport, track and field.

[00:18:01] Yes.

[00:18:03] The French say, that's the T's.

[00:18:05] Yeah.

[00:18:06] Or, that takes or something.

[00:18:09] Anyway, I featured it.

[00:18:10] Sorry, Guillaume.

[00:18:11] No, no, no.

[00:18:13] I totally put it.

[00:18:14] I mean, the track and field.

[00:18:16] I mean, those are, I mean, that's a series of events.

[00:18:17] That's super cool.

[00:18:18] And we had great seats.

[00:18:21] No kidding.

[00:18:22] On the lower level of the stadium.

[00:18:25] And it was amazing to be able to just experience it at the Olympics.

[00:18:30] And I, for one, understood.

[00:18:32] Yeah, you were right next to the dudes with the cameras.

[00:18:35] That's crazy.

[00:18:36] Yes.

[00:18:36] And I'm sure the people that can, you know, view this podcast can see some of the footage

[00:18:43] that is going across the screen.

[00:18:45] And followed by that was our first event, which was rugby.

[00:18:51] Yeah.

[00:18:52] Which, insane.

[00:18:54] So you saw the bronze medal match?

[00:18:57] Yeah.

[00:18:58] So, we saw, again, I don't understand rugby.

[00:19:02] My friend who came to visit, Chris, is the rugby player.

[00:19:07] He was actually teaching.

[00:19:08] But it was, like, amazing.

[00:19:10] Like, New Zealand?

[00:19:11] Oh, my God.

[00:19:12] Yeah.

[00:19:13] They're pretty.

[00:19:14] They're known for that.

[00:19:15] They're pretty good.

[00:19:15] Yeah.

[00:19:16] So, we saw the semifinals.

[00:19:18] Yeah.

[00:19:18] And if we had stayed.

[00:19:19] We saw the semifinals.

[00:19:20] Yeah.

[00:19:20] But if we had stayed in the stadium, which I didn't know, we could have seen.

[00:19:24] Oh, you could have stayed?

[00:19:25] We could have stayed and seen.

[00:19:27] Oh, okay.

[00:19:27] That would have been cool.

[00:19:28] In the stadium, like the announcers or whatever, they actually did do exactly that.

[00:19:33] They tried to explain before the game start how the game is played.

[00:19:37] Oh, okay.

[00:19:38] And stuff.

[00:19:39] So, that was really cool.

[00:19:40] You know, the other game we actually saw was beach volleyball.

[00:19:45] Right.

[00:19:46] Now, when I say, I always make fun of the French, but when I tell you, when it comes to, like,

[00:19:53] elegance and the showmanship of something, like, the French has it down pat.

[00:19:59] Yeah.

[00:20:00] When they want you to say, oh, la, la.

[00:20:05] I mean, you saw the beach volleyball stadium.

[00:20:08] Yeah.

[00:20:08] And I think that they definitely tried to go out of the box with their opening ceremony.

[00:20:14] Yes.

[00:20:15] Because normally it's like in a stadium, you know?

[00:20:17] So, everyone can kind of see what's happening.

[00:20:19] The first time ever.

[00:20:20] Doing it.

[00:20:21] All over the Seine.

[00:20:21] Yeah.

[00:20:22] Yes.

[00:20:22] And I'm not sure.

[00:20:24] Like, for people that weren't, I don't, you couldn't see everything.

[00:20:28] So, you were definitely, like, if you were on some bridge over here, you weren't going

[00:20:32] to see what was happening.

[00:20:32] Mm-mm-mm-mm.

[00:20:33] So, here's, yeah.

[00:20:35] Go ahead, Trisha.

[00:20:35] I'm sorry.

[00:20:36] No, but what I'm saying is that, you know, it's definitely a destination of, you know,

[00:20:41] the different points.

[00:20:42] If, you know, if you're visiting Paris, they force you to go to the different areas, you

[00:20:48] know, to visit different points.

[00:20:49] Which I, I mean, honestly, I love because not only are you getting to see, you know.

[00:20:54] The beauty of the city.

[00:20:56] Of the city, but, you know, also the events, right?

[00:20:59] Yeah.

[00:20:59] So, the different stadiums, the different arenas.

[00:21:01] So, that's actually really cool, I think.

[00:21:03] Well, I did read, because I was reading Le Monde, Le Monde, and they were saying that,

[00:21:09] like, the whole world did not have the same viewership experience, like, broadcast in America,

[00:21:16] but like in other, so in some kind of, like, Morocco, the Moroccan channels, for like 15

[00:21:22] minutes, we were just showing the Louvre, because it was like people not clothed really

[00:21:26] a lot.

[00:21:27] They weren't wearing a lot of clothing, and so they weren't going to broadcast that in

[00:21:32] the Muslim country, they had naked people.

[00:21:34] So, I thought that was interesting, because usually.

[00:21:38] Cultural dynamics between.

[00:21:39] Same thing, yeah.

[00:21:40] Yeah.

[00:21:41] Yeah.

[00:21:41] So, you know, whatever the director envisioned, that's not what everyone saw.

[00:21:47] Well, I can tell you another great point, Benaf.

[00:21:51] Well, everything that they did was the first.

[00:21:54] You know, no one has ever entered, you know, every time, like you said, when you watch the

[00:22:01] Olympic opening ceremony, everyone is.

[00:22:04] The boat.

[00:22:05] Well, no, I'm saying normally you walk into the track and everybody's standing there.

[00:22:10] And no one, no one would have thought, you know, coming in on a river.

[00:22:14] And you're right.

[00:22:15] Not everyone can see wherever.

[00:22:18] It was just so, like the French know how to be elegant when they want to be.

[00:22:26] Yeah.

[00:22:27] And the whole storytelling and, you know, from the horse, which I think was Joan of Arc, I'm

[00:22:36] assuming.

[00:22:38] Um, and.

[00:22:40] Okay.

[00:22:41] There were a little bit of things that people thought was very controversial because I heard

[00:22:46] it from family members of mine too, as well.

[00:22:48] And I was like.

[00:22:49] Yeah.

[00:22:49] Stop.

[00:22:50] Yeah.

[00:22:51] There was nothing controversial.

[00:22:53] It was.

[00:22:54] It was not the last supper people.

[00:22:56] Yeah.

[00:22:57] It wasn't.

[00:22:58] It was about.

[00:22:59] Yeah.

[00:22:59] Yeah.

[00:23:00] It was about the Olympics, the Greeks or Greeks back in the day.

[00:23:06] Yeah.

[00:23:06] Everybody thought it was the last supper.

[00:23:08] And I'm like, no, it's not.

[00:23:10] And I feel like that's a case of, I don't know if it was just Americans that thought that,

[00:23:13] but is that.

[00:23:14] It was Americans.

[00:23:15] No, everything about that.

[00:23:17] Yeah.

[00:23:17] It was American to do with you.

[00:23:19] Yeah.

[00:23:19] It was Americans and maybe some Brits, but it was Americans.

[00:23:24] Yeah.

[00:23:24] And, and it's unfortunate because, you know, what I pretty much said to that was, you know,

[00:23:30] well, you could turn the channel or, you know, because, because I know I've heard those,

[00:23:36] those statements, but I'm here to say it was, you know, kudos to the French because I was

[00:23:41] one of the, I was one of the skeptics that said they're not going to be done on time because

[00:23:45] they were still building shit like a week before the Olympics and stuff like this.

[00:23:50] Wow.

[00:23:51] Yeah.

[00:23:51] There's always a last minute production.

[00:23:54] Yeah.

[00:23:54] Yeah.

[00:23:54] It's like, but that was part that was to me, that was, that was the awe to me because I

[00:24:01] just remember what you were telling us, you know, and even, you know, outside of what

[00:24:05] we had discussed, you know, you know, not, you know, not, you know, on the show, but just,

[00:24:13] you know, just in passing, you know, privately, what we had discussed and what you had posted

[00:24:17] and what we saw, you know, what had, you know, been revealed and a lot of what the sport, you

[00:24:25] know, the sportscasters and all the broadcasters and everyone else was saying is that a lot of

[00:24:30] the things that we witnessed had not even been tested, had never been actually fully functioning.

[00:24:37] If you will, you know, that it had never been tested.

[00:24:41] So from that to the balloon, that was the first time.

[00:24:44] I mean, that is my favorite part.

[00:24:49] Honestly.

[00:24:50] I mean, that to me, the balloon.

[00:24:53] Well, that's the, yeah, the light, the lighting of the torch.

[00:24:57] That was another.

[00:24:58] Having that.

[00:24:59] That was amazing.

[00:25:00] Yeah.

[00:25:01] The fact, the fact that you have the torch.

[00:25:04] Normally the, the lighting of torch is in the track stadium and it stays there lit in the track stadium.

[00:25:11] But it's a balloon that they did over, you know, um, Torrey gardens.

[00:25:17] Balloons still going?

[00:25:18] Yeah.

[00:25:19] Yeah.

[00:25:19] Every night until the Olympics.

[00:25:22] So do I understand it stays lit, but during the day it's actually lowered.

[00:25:27] Exactly.

[00:25:27] And then at night it goes back up.

[00:25:29] Correct.

[00:25:30] Okay.

[00:25:30] That's a hot air balloon.

[00:25:32] Yes.

[00:25:33] Yeah.

[00:25:33] It's some damn balloon.

[00:25:34] I don't know if it's hot or not, but it's some balloon that.

[00:25:37] It symbolizes, but it's supposed to symbolize.

[00:25:41] I can't remember what it is.

[00:25:42] But it's light.

[00:25:43] It's the torch basically.

[00:25:44] Yeah.

[00:25:45] So it symbolizes the light and it, so it, it, it's lowered.

[00:25:49] It's still lit, but it's lowered during the day.

[00:25:52] But then it, it, it, that sunset, it then begins to rise and go.

[00:25:56] It's just, it's gorgeous.

[00:25:57] It's the coolest thing ever.

[00:25:58] And I, I, I.

[00:26:00] It rivals the Eiffel Tower.

[00:26:02] Yeah.

[00:26:02] I would be remiss if I did not mention about, you know, the Parisians might've done a good

[00:26:09] job because it's empty as shit here.

[00:26:13] Oh, you mean.

[00:26:14] Well, it's empty when they leave.

[00:26:17] Yeah.

[00:26:17] Yeah.

[00:26:18] Like normally they leave in August, which that's not a surprise.

[00:26:22] Yeah.

[00:26:23] Yeah.

[00:26:23] But I, there's no problem with the train system here as they protested and said it was going

[00:26:29] to be too many people.

[00:26:31] Yeah.

[00:26:31] Um, I, there was no issues with, it's just weird because you see the stadiums, they're completely

[00:26:37] packed.

[00:26:38] So clearly there are, there are tourists here.

[00:26:41] Yeah.

[00:26:41] There's no issues with all that.

[00:26:43] I think, um, one thing that if I have to criticize is they really ramped up security and they made

[00:26:53] it obnoxiously annoying because they're telling, yeah, it doesn't make sense, but it's obnoxious

[00:27:01] and it's annoying.

[00:27:03] Um, what kind of security are you talking like?

[00:27:05] I'm talking about the whole.

[00:27:07] They're going to have to have security.

[00:27:10] Right.

[00:27:11] But the obnoxious part is when you're telling people to show up at the stadium one hour

[00:27:16] and 30 minutes early, then the start of a game, that's the obnoxious part because, and

[00:27:24] then in order to get.

[00:27:26] I don't know that I find that too obnoxious.

[00:27:28] Just being early.

[00:27:30] How is that obnoxious?

[00:27:31] And just sitting there in a stadium with the sun beating down on your face for an hour

[00:27:37] and 30 minutes.

[00:27:38] That is a long time.

[00:27:39] It's obnoxious.

[00:27:40] Yeah.

[00:27:41] Well, then in order to get like, for example, to the track and field stadium, once you get

[00:27:46] off the train, you think you're there, you see it, but it's an extra 20 minute walk

[00:27:52] because the way how they do the security.

[00:27:54] So, and I'm bitching because I didn't want to walk that far in the heat.

[00:28:00] But it's, I mean, they, kudos to them again.

[00:28:03] You saw cops, like I hear cops walking down my block with on horses, which is, you know,

[00:28:09] you hear the clicking of the horse.

[00:28:10] They're walking on the horse.

[00:28:12] Yeah.

[00:28:12] And I'm like, what is this clicking noise?

[00:28:14] But yeah, they did that.

[00:28:16] And by the Eiffel Tower, which I think that that's probably the most well used area by,

[00:28:24] you know, with the, with the volleyball as you know, folks can see with the videos.

[00:28:30] Well, and then is it like all along the Seine?

[00:28:33] Is there security?

[00:28:34] Oh God.

[00:28:35] Yes.

[00:28:36] Like it's, it there it's, it's insane on.

[00:28:39] And I heard it, it was still dirty.

[00:28:42] Like people trying to swim in it.

[00:28:45] Oh yeah.

[00:28:45] Well, there's triathlon.

[00:28:48] I did.

[00:28:49] Yeah.

[00:28:50] I did see some of the, the triad, the, we, my friend went and saw some of the triathlon

[00:28:56] events and, and yeah, they did swim.

[00:28:58] There were a couple of folks that ended up in the hospital.

[00:29:01] Well, you said, you said you saw somebody throw some trash in there.

[00:29:05] Oh, before the Olympics.

[00:29:07] Yes.

[00:29:08] It was just weird.

[00:29:10] And I'm sure it was a protest in front of my face.

[00:29:12] And I, and the cops was not too far.

[00:29:15] And there's a lady, she just had a, we just didn't know what it was.

[00:29:19] She had a bag of like a garbage bag.

[00:29:22] A suspicious material.

[00:29:24] It was liquid.

[00:29:25] Hazardous waste.

[00:29:27] Biohazard.

[00:29:28] That's wild.

[00:29:30] Yeah.

[00:29:30] It was like, it was like.

[00:29:32] Shit in a bag.

[00:29:32] And it was like, I'm going to throw this in the.

[00:29:34] Shit.

[00:29:36] But it looked like, like chicken.

[00:29:40] Like, you know, like cooked, like not cooked chicken, but you know, like chicken.

[00:29:44] Raw chicken.

[00:29:44] Raw chicken.

[00:29:46] Yeah.

[00:29:46] Yeah.

[00:29:47] It just looked like that, but I don't know, but she literally just walked up over the bridge.

[00:29:52] Smiled.

[00:29:53] And just took her baggy out and empty it all in the river.

[00:29:56] And I'm just like.

[00:29:57] Did that just happen in front of me?

[00:30:00] Yeah.

[00:30:01] Well, I mean, but I think the article that I, I think the article that I read was that they

[00:30:05] were concerned.

[00:30:06] I know that some of the, some of the athletes had said that, that there, they had ran into

[00:30:11] debris and that they were concerned.

[00:30:14] Uh, you know, they were concerned about what was in there.

[00:30:17] Oh, what was the debris?

[00:30:18] You know, there's a lot of things that they pulled.

[00:30:21] It's like you're swimming in this murky water.

[00:30:23] Oh God.

[00:30:23] Yeah.

[00:30:23] There's a lot of things that they pulled out of that water.

[00:30:26] I mean, I've just been really loving all the, uh, all the, uh, the posts on Instagram.

[00:30:32] Yeah.

[00:30:32] All the Olympians that are taking, you know, photos together and you could totally.

[00:30:36] I mean, Simone Biles and, and, and, um, I forget the other American girl who, you know,

[00:30:44] Absolutely.

[00:30:44] Or just fangirling over each other, but I mean, just even, but just, I'm just saying just

[00:30:49] like, you know, from Australia and from China and just, I mean, just loving how everyone

[00:30:54] is just a fan of each other and they really are just uplifting each other.

[00:30:59] And, and they're just, I don't know.

[00:31:01] I think, no, no, I, I mean, that's a good point, Tricia.

[00:31:04] And I think also the, because look, the world is kind of cuckoo right now with conflicts here

[00:31:11] and there and, you know, with the, with, with the situation that's happening in the middle

[00:31:15] East and stuff like this.

[00:31:16] I, I felt, I didn't feel scared at all.

[00:31:21] Even when I was in the volleyball stadium and clearly we're playing the Swiss because they

[00:31:26] have their little whatever, whatever, and we're making fun of it.

[00:31:30] And it's just that even though you're competing and everybody's flag is flying high and, and,

[00:31:38] and, you know, we got, you know, Americans we're obnoxious, you know, go USA.

[00:31:42] I mean, is there like, have you ever seen an angry Swiss person?

[00:31:46] I don't, I mean, I don't know.

[00:31:49] Like compared to us?

[00:31:51] No.

[00:31:51] Didn't feel like you didn't get an anxiety of anger or someone mad because.

[00:31:59] I think because, yeah.

[00:32:00] I mean, I do think it's because there's so many different countries.

[00:32:03] It's not like the world cup too.

[00:32:05] I don't know.

[00:32:06] Like the Olympics seems to be more, um, esprit de, esprit de corps or whatever.

[00:32:11] Like people came together.

[00:32:13] Yeah.

[00:32:13] And the world cup is more like win or die, you know, like, I don't know.

[00:32:18] Yeah.

[00:32:18] It's just a lot more.

[00:32:19] But I mean, like it's, but people are intense when they're cheering for their country.

[00:32:24] They are intense.

[00:32:25] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:32:25] And I saw that, you know, some of the countries that are very intense are Americans, the Brits, the Germans did not sleep down.

[00:32:38] But I also read the United States and United States, Canada, and I forgot what other country did bring.

[00:32:44] Oh yeah.

[00:32:45] They brought air conditioning.

[00:32:46] For their athletes.

[00:32:47] Oh yeah.

[00:32:47] Yeah.

[00:32:48] But majority of the, um, majority of the athletes, um, of my understanding eat to include America.

[00:32:54] Cause I know the basketball team did not sleep there and which rightfully so I don't think LeBron James, who's worth.

[00:33:01] Oh, you mean the professional players.

[00:33:02] Oh yeah.

[00:33:03] Is going to sleep in the athletic village.

[00:33:06] And most of the players did not sleep in the athletic village because they just said that it was not.

[00:33:10] And they said they ran out of food, like different nutritionists, nutritional food.

[00:33:16] So that was something that was not getting great press here and stuff like that.

[00:33:21] And, you know, you saw like, uh, the nephew mentioned about the Italian athlete, like literally sleeping.

[00:33:28] Yeah.

[00:33:29] That is crazy.

[00:33:30] Like a homeless person.

[00:33:32] My God.

[00:33:33] Like he just won the gold medal.

[00:33:35] Like seriously, come on.

[00:33:36] But other than that, everything else was smooth sailing.

[00:33:40] Now, just to transition a little bit, just to give a two cents on some of the things, not only we did the Olympic adventure and stuff like this, we decided spontaneously to travel and see a different part of France.

[00:33:53] And we decided to do, you know, the Northern region of France in Normandy.

[00:33:59] And, you know, I, we went to, for example, you're going to laugh at me, but not, but I'll say it.

[00:34:06] Mont Saint-Michel.

[00:34:09] Which is basically Mont Saint-Michel.

[00:34:14] Mont Saint-Michel.

[00:34:16] Mont Saint-Michel.

[00:34:17] Saint-Michel.

[00:34:17] Yes.

[00:34:18] If you've never been there.

[00:34:19] And if it's been a while since you've been, like go.

[00:34:23] It's, it's almost the only way I can describe it because it's my first time there is it's, it's, it's like Game of Thrones.

[00:34:31] It's like, I'm waiting for it.

[00:34:33] Something.

[00:34:33] I'm serious.

[00:34:34] I'm waiting for the dragon to just fly over to take me up to the mountain or something like this.

[00:34:41] And it was just.

[00:34:42] Sure.

[00:34:43] Yeah.

[00:34:44] And one thing that I ended, you know, some of my, my journey was going to the German cemetery for the soldiers of World War II.

[00:34:57] Now, I never knew there was, in my mind, I'm just like, okay, am I stupid?

[00:35:03] Why are you going to honor the people that tried to kill you?

[00:35:07] I mean, this is lesson learned for me.

[00:35:09] Yeah.

[00:35:09] I went to, they had a little museum there.

[00:35:11] I mean, I wonder if it's different honoring the actual soldiers who probably didn't have a choice to fight.

[00:35:18] You know, they were just, you got to do this.

[00:35:20] I don't.

[00:35:21] Yeah.

[00:35:21] It was, it was something that was.

[00:35:22] The German government.

[00:35:24] It's not like they were honoring Nazis.

[00:35:26] They were honoring those people that.

[00:35:28] Rafted and forced to fight and died.

[00:35:30] I don't know.

[00:35:31] Something happened.

[00:35:32] They shook hands.

[00:35:35] You would be there.

[00:35:36] I understood that they shook on it.

[00:35:39] And this was something that was not like a long, long time ago that it was built.

[00:35:44] It was, I want to say it was built in the, in the late eighties.

[00:35:48] Wow.

[00:35:49] I loved it.

[00:35:50] You know, my, we, we enjoyed the, the fact of just being able to not just stay, just staying in Paris, but instead we just jumped out of our comfort zone and we just said, let's do this.

[00:36:02] You know, and we, you know, hopped on a train, which that's the most great thing about being here in Europe.

[00:36:08] Yeah.

[00:36:08] Everything is so well connected.

[00:36:10] And I think the moral of the story is, you know, I always say like Nike, just do it.

[00:36:17] Don't think too much about where you're traveling or what you're doing and stuff.

[00:36:21] I want to thank all of our listeners and, and, and our, our supporters for continuing to stick with us.

[00:36:29] But hey, this could not be, you know, done without you guys.

[00:36:33] So if you haven't already, please do, you know, like subscribe.

[00:36:39] And yeah, we definitely would love to hear feedback from our supporters and, and new timers and anyone that comes on the channel to see us.

[00:36:49] We would really appreciate it.

[00:36:51] And until next time, we hope you enjoyed our Olympic journey and our experience.

[00:36:57] This was wonderful.

[00:36:58] And until next time.

[00:37:03] Ciao.

[00:37:04] Salut.

[00:37:04] Salut.