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PARIS — Sorry, Rose Bowl. I’ve found a better sunset.
Only three months in, the views of the most amazing stadium on earth are quickly disappearing. The Paris Olympic Beach Volleyball Stadium is a bustling arena, already packed with enthusiastic fans cheering on one of the coolest events in the Olympics: a fast-paced, intense sport. As if that wasn’t enough, the view of the Eiffel Tower towering over the north wall of the stadium makes the advantage completely unfair.
Now, look at this view.
Name a stadium. Any stadium will do. This stadium is better. PNC Park in Pittsburgh, Busch Stadium in St. Louis, Dodger Stadium, and other baseball stadiums overlook the city, but those cities are Paris.
Fans attending the first day of beach volleyball competition were treated to an unprecedented gift: a beautiful sunset over the Eiffel Tower at the Olympic venue. The rain cleared to reveal a setting sun casting ribbons of rose and cerulean blue across the sky, leaving the tower silhouetted. Then the golden lights began to glow, and thousands of spectators in the stands and thousands more in the park outside all raised their cell phones to snap photos.
One enterprising artist set up an easel and canvas and painted a spectacular sunset while the U.S. women’s team was beating Canada in a big way. His work was fine, very fine, but it still couldn’t compare to the sky above.
This was the view that Paris was hoping for for its opening ceremony — a perfect backdrop for the world’s most famous structure. Rain put a damper on that dream on Friday, but Mother Nature made up for it a little on Saturday night. Beach volleyball continues through the final day of the Olympics, so there will be plenty of opportunities to take in this masterpiece of architecture and vision.
The reason this pairing worked is because genius met genius. The Eiffel Tower is 1,083 feet tall and a testament to humanity’s ability to dream big and push boundaries. What better backdrop for the world’s best athletes, or at least on the sand?
The beach volleyball venue won’t last forever. Once the Olympics are over, it’ll be over too. But maybe that’s for the best. It’ll be like a perfect summer day fading into the sunset. Something that can never be recreated, but will remain in your memory forever.
