Some of us were glued to our TV's during the Olympics ... and some of us were there in person! We asked Ann what it was like to live through these Olympics in Paris ... and weren't too surprised by her glowing response!
Meg: Madame, you’ve just come off of a very busy two weeks. How are you feeling?
Ann: I'm both elated that the Olympics were so fabulous and sad that they're over. The JO's brought a wonderful energy to this city! ( By the way, that’s how the cool people call them. It’s pronounced Zhee Oh, and stands for Jeux Olympiques. I know you always like to know this!)
Ha! (I do!) What was it like to live through it?
It was awesome. There were very few cars in the city, just lots of happy pedestrians and the whole city felt like a giant Olympic playground. We were in the epicenter, at the intersection of three of the main venues. We got used to hearing helicopters buzzing overhead and loud cheers through our windows. You really got the feeling that everyone was happy, notwithstanding some of the heart wrenching tears we witnessed on social media when some of the athletes didn’t get the results they wanted!
How was the store? (Huff Harrington has a showroom near the Eiffel Tower to service its design projects in Paris.)
Well most of the visitors were not interested in French antiques and original art – despite our patriotic red, white and blue vignette in the window! But I’m happy to say that the Paris fever did catch on, and we have some new clients buying apartments in Paris, which we will be happy to renovate and decorate !
Cheers to that! And speaking of, did you get to cheer on any of our athletes?
Well, I’d like to say that between Bill and me, we got to see 16 events! That is, he saw 15 and I saw 1! Our Paris design office was busy with almost all of our clients in town for the JO’s.
Bill had a great time at all his events - along with a few buddies who came over from ATL.
They even found a few ATL landmarks!
Well, I hope you enjoyed your one event at least!
I did! I went to the US women’s soccer match against Japan, where unfortunately neither team played very well but at least the U.S. came out ahead. Did you see their match against Brazil? That was a completely different match. I’ve still got goosebumps!
I saw that! And loved watching all the scenes of Paris in between the athletic events. It looks like Paris did a great job.
Paris gets a gold medal, for sure! I am so proud of this city. It was so well organized, so safe and so beautiful! I heard this over and over again from all our clients and visitors and our U.S. friends weighing in.
It’s funny because before the games, I heard a lot of grumbling from Parisians about the inconvenience, the cost, the distraction of having the games in the middle of political uncertainty. So the city was like a ghost town the week before the JO’s started. And then everyone got caught up in the excitement, in the Olympic fever and the spirit of sportsmanship. And it was so much fun!!
The Parisians aren’t back yet, but I’m wondering if there might be some regrets out there!
That's funny. So what’s in store for you now?
Well, please don’t tell anyone back home but we are honoring the time-tested tradition of closing our office for the rest of August! This is a great time to give everyone a well-deserved break. And this gives me time to visit some new countries and new vendors to source more wonderful one-of-a-kinds for our U.S. and French clients. I wish you could come but someone’s got to do the hard work! Can you recognize where I am now?
Jealous, and yes I can - and I wonder if our readers can? I hope you find some great treasures for us. Meanwhile, we in Atlanta do have the time-tested tradition of being busy in August, so back to work for us. I'll see you in a couple of weeks for our next buying trips!
Yep, can't wait to have you back, Madame -- so à bientôt!
Ta ta.
HH
