The Olympic doom everyone predicted never came to Paris

FOR the better part of a year, a lot of Parisians have been planning for the Olympics – not to attend them, but to escape them. Fear of an unliveable city packed with tourists and deprived of basic goods has been matched with greed at the prospect of charging those same tourists insane sums for accommodation on Airbnb. Overtourism, price-gouging and harsh policing would surely make Paris hell.

Luckily for those of us still here, nothing has turned out as expected, rather like the bedbugs meme that went viral but bore little relation to reality.

Paris has rarely seemed less hellish: Security barriers blocking the Seine have been largely dismantled, the rain has stopped, and Paris’ landmarks look incredible, from the Grand Palais’ fencing events to the Pont Alexandre III’s triathlon finish. Friendly cops from different countries are walking the streets, smiling volunteers are everywhere, and the metro has plenty of room to spare. Gold medals galore are spreading joy in a land of pessimists.