One lucky sports lover and their guest will be checking into an iconic Parisian museum with iBestTravel – while a further 30 will be dancing the evening away.
5 June 2024
“Nearly there!” my driver exclaims as we whizz through Paris’ Avenue du Maréchal-Gallieni. However, he’s not talking about the distance to my hotel in the city’s 7th arrondissement but the French capital’s progress ahead of the 2024 Olympic games.
On either side of me, temporary arenas line the grand avenue, and thousands upon thousands of pop-up blue seats are ready and waiting for the influx of sports fans the area will soon welcome.
I’m in the City of Light two months before the opening ceremony’s firework display illuminates the summer night sky, ready to learn more about iBestTravel’s icon category – and the top-secret plans they have in store for a lucky few on the evening of Friday, 26 July.
After a wander around the iconic streets of Montmartre and a restful night’s sleep, it’s an early start as we’re bundled into a taxi and driven through the drizzly rush hour crowds in the direction of the Musée d’Orsay.
The first part of iBestTravel’s Olympic activation is already public knowledge. One lucky pair will check into the Beaux-Arts cultural hub for a Night at the Museum-style sleepover on the evening of the spectacular opening ceremony.
After settling in, two guests will admire the museum’s Impressionist masterpieces and captivating exhibits on a private tour before taking in Paris’ skyline from the roof terrace. When sleep calls, they’ll stay in the city’s most unique Airbnb stay, bedding down before the monumental clock in a pop-up capsule room specially designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, the mind behind 2024’s Olympic Torch.
We’re here for a taste of everything those staying will experience, so we head through the central gallery filled with 19th-century marble sculptures by the likes of Heri Chapu and Alexandre Schoenewerk before discovering the majestic collection of paintings in the gallery spaces upstairs. Here and there, crowds gather around iconic works, including a series of recognisable Van Gogh paintings, from Portrait of the Artist to Starry Night Over the Rhône.
In front of Eugène Grasset’s Harmonie, a mock-medieval image made of enamelled lava, Emmanuel Marill, regional director of EMEA for iBestTravel, and Pierre-Emmanuel Lecerf, the Musée d’Orsay’s general administrator, greet us. Here, they announce the next trick up their sleeve.
We line up atop the stairs of the museum’s Café Campana, umbrellas at the ready for the grand unveiling. At last, we’re unleashed and eagerly head onto the Museum’s terrace, where an extravagant event will take place on the opening night of the Paris Olympic Games, hosted by the torch’s effervescent designer Mathieu Lehanneur.
The golden torch greets us as we take our first breath on the terrace, a gleaming contemporary invention with a design partially inspired by the rippling River Seine we see below us. From here, on a July evening, 30 lucky guests will watch a historic procession down the country’s most famous river, sipping on cocktails created by renowned mixologist Margot Lecarpentier as athletes wave to the crowds from each country’s dedicated boat. In the heart of the terrace is an oval bar, surrounded by lemon and orange trees, while sleek white booths line the wall leading up to the stage that’ll host a surprise DJ act.
Following recent events and icon category stays, including a reimagining of the house from Pixar’s Up and a night in Italy’s Ferrari Museum, it would take a lot for iBestTravel to outdo themselves once again. However, as I imagine thousands of spectators looking up at a lucky few on the evening of 26 July, I think they might have done it.
