Olympic Flame Arrives in Marseille

Europe|Let the Party Begin! Olympic Flame Arrives successful Marseille

Before a assemblage thronging the waterfront and hilltops of this past larboard metropolis of Marseille, the Olympic occurrence arrived successful France connected Wednesday, opening a 79-day relay crossed the state and its territories that volition culminate successful Paris with the commencement of the Olympic Games connected July 26.

In an elaborate ceremonial attended by President Emmanuel Macron and a assemblage estimated astatine much than 150,000 people, each eyes were connected the Belem, a historical three-masted vessel that bore the flame, and was greeted by much than 1,000 boats successful a wood of masts filling Marseille’s harbor.

The Belem, which spent overmuch of the time cruising conscionable beyond the city’s aged port, near Greece connected April 27, carrying the occurrence lit successful Ancient Olympia eleven days earlier that.

“We needed a almighty symbol, a beardown awesome that someway showed the radiant look of France,” Tony Estanguet, the caput of the Paris Olympic Committee, told France 2 tv of the city, which was founded immoderate 2,600 years ago. “Marseille is simply a metropolis of sport, passion, and festivities.”

Florent Manaudou, France’s Olympic mens’s 50 meters freestyle champion successful 2012, ushered the occurrence ashore astatine astir 7:30 p.m. A subdivision of the French Air Force, known arsenic the “Acrobatic Patrol,” traced the 5 Olympic rings successful the sky. Mr. Macron is not expected to marque a speech, opting to shun authorities successful favour of a solemnisation that volition see a escaped rap performance connected a floating stage.

France has been the people of repeated Islamist violent attacks implicit the past decade, and information was choky connected Wednesday, with entree to the larboard country controlled by much than 6,000 instrumentality enforcement officers. Gérald Darmanin, the interior curate and a prospective statesmanlike candidate, called the level of information “unprecedented.”