Paris 2024 - Day 12 (July 28th) - Women's Archery

We have 9:30 AM tickets for Archery today near the Hôtel des Invalides on the Seine so we are up early. We are a little slow getting going so we decide to eat at one of the local boulangeries. I go for an almond croissant today. There is a pretty long walk from the Metro 13 station to the venue and the line to at the security stop is pretty long, but it is hard to argue with the view:

That is the Grand Palais in the distance – we will be there for Taekwondo next week. This time, the security people question whether my camera lens is too big. Unfortunately, they don’t seem to understand the concept of focal length (maximum 200mm allowed) and instead figure that a bigger lens must be illegal. I am able to use just enough French, while pointing at the 200 on the lens barrel to convince them to let it in. In truth, I’m obeying the letter, but not the spirit of the law because I have a 2x teleconverter lens in my backback which turns my 200mm lens into a 400mm lens. Once through security, we discover that the organizers came up with a good idea – letting spectators take practice shots:

Sean really wants to try this but does not want to stand in the long line to do it. He humors me for a picture instead:

That is the Hôtel des Invalides in the background which we intend to visit after today’s event. We’ve got woman’s team semifinals on tap today. That involves teams of 3 women who each get two shots at the target in each set. Winning team gets 2 points, and you have to have at least 5 points to win. The target is 70 m (230 feet) away and is 122 cm (4 ft) in diameter with each colored ring being 12.2 cm (4.8 in) in diameter. An arrow in the center ring is worth 10 points and you lose 1 point on your arrow for each additional ring away from the center that it lands. 

These matches are to decide which four teams will face the four seeded teams in the semifinals: Korea, India, China and Mexico. The first match is the US versus Chinese Taipei. The first set was exciting – the US could have won the set with a 10 on the last arrow, but only gets a 9 so they tie 53-53. Unfortunately, this was the US’s high point for the match, and they lose the next two sets 55-52 and 52-48. The second set was France versus the Netherlands. This got the crowd stirred up and while the French team had the eventual bronze medalist in the Individual Woman event, the Dutch win in 3 sets 55-49, 56-51 and 54-51. In this match, we find that the French root very hard for their own team, but do not seem to root for anyone else. The 3^rd match, between Indonesia and Malaysia, is the best of the four matches. Indonesia won the first set 54-52 after the last Malaysia team member got a 8 when she needed a 10 on her final shot for the win. Malaysia came back to win the second set easily 55-47. Indonesia won the 3^rd set 53-51. The final set came down to the last arrow. If the Malaysian woman had gotten a 10, the two teams would have had a shootout where all six players take one shot and the closest arrow to the exact center wins. Unfortunately, she only got a 9 so the two teams tied 52-52 and Indonesia won 5-3 (a tie gives each team 1 point). In the final match, Germany beat Great Britain in 3 sets, 56-48, 56-54 and 53-51. Here are some of the pictures that I took:

Bonus points to anyone who can spot the arrow in flight in several of these pictures! This is an advantage of having a camera that can take bursts of about 8 pictures/second. But you cannot believe how many photos I had to take in order to catch these few flying arrows!

There are a lot of street closures in this part of Paris, but we do find one road that goes in the right direction. As it happens, it also contains a small sandwich shop – by small I mean 4 chairs on a bar and two tables (with a huge display of M&M collectibles!). We all go for what is becoming the traditional lunch – jambon and fromage on a baguette with a Coke Zero (diet Coke). I was hoping for a Powerade (a Coke product) to replace some of the electrolytes I’ve been sweating out in the humidity, but there was none. This will become a reoccurring theme of these Games. Anyway, this time, I have a choice of my sandwich with or without lettuce and tomato and I happily take the veggies as I’ve been pretty veggie deficient on this trip so far. Everything is great although I notice that the sandwich wrappers have a tendency to strip anything sticking out (which is usually the lettuce and tomato) as you eat from one end to the other. When you are done, you end up with the wrapper containing your lettuce and tomato! We give the owners a happy Merci Beaucoup and I give them both pins from my giveaway bag.

The Hôtel des Invalides, in English, the House of the Invalids, was commissioned by King Louis XIV in 1670 as a home for crippled war veterans, many of whom were homeless because they had no way of making a living. A military chapel was included and is now the national cathedral of the French military. In 1840, it was determined that Napoleon and his family would be buried here. The retirement home part closed in the early 20^th century and was replaced by a military museum. We didn’t go to the miliary museum, but here are some pictures from the chapel:

It is really a beautiful place. Louis XIV really knew how to do bling. Of course, the French Revolution happened shortly after this chapel was completed in part because of the excesses of the French Kings. In fact, when the Parisian rioters stormed the Invalides, the took cannons from the basement that we used later in the same day to storm the Bastille.

We head home. Dinner tonight was at an Indian restaurant. Here is a picture of the over-the-top decorations:

Steps for the day: 11,872.