The unprecedented opening ceremony planned for the 2024 Paris Olympics, just 500 days away, promises to be both spectacular and a serious security headache, with the arrangements still being worked out by anxious officials.
The vision, as announced by French President Emmanuel Macron, is to take the ceremony out of its customary location in the main stadium and put it in the heart of the capital.
Sporting delegations are set to sail down the river Seine in boats, an armada of sporting excellence set against the backdrop of the capital's world-famous monuments in view of up to 600,000 cheering spectators.
The appeal of such a bold statement of French ambition and art de vivre to a global TV audience of hundreds of millions is clear.
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