The Frenchest things

• Celine Dion singing an Edith Piaf song about l’amour from the Eiffel Tower
• the Revolution being cast as very Metal (I mean honestly, the prison of the nobility exploding into red, while metal music shreds- yeah, that was wow)
• An opera singer, Axelle Saint-Cirel, singing from the roof of the Grand Palais, “Her prettily draped, eight-meter-long dress, also by Dior Haute Couture, was actually of a piece with the French flag she brandished." (Vogue)

Other opening ceremonies highlights that are not the Most French Thing I’ve ever seen but still cool:

• When we realized what they were doing with molten metal was making the Medals
• a robot horse, in fact a Pale Horse, galloping along the Seine
• the Phantom and the Catacombs (very quick moments)
• Imagine, but the piano is on fire and the whole stage is a boat and it’s pouring rain
• I saw a tweet that said “first time they’ve been on a boat that hasn’t disappeared” and before the image loaded I tried to guess what country they were making fun of, and I was delighted to discover it was Bermuda (joke explained: boats disappear in the Bermuda Triangle)
• I am thrilled that Snoop is a guest host for the main reason that he’s just delightful
• I got a little choked up from time to time
• Team USA’s national costume makes sense: jeans is perfect, a blazer makes it classy