On Sunday, as I arrived back at my hotel from covering my last Paris Olympics event, the entire staff had decamped from their duties and were crowded around a large television screen.
On it, France’s women’s basketball team were bidding to pull off one last unlikely gold against the United States, and it went to the final second of the match.
The workforce, in their black-and-white-striped uniforms, briefly leapt in celebration for what they thought to be a three-pointer to force overtime, only for the foot of Gabby Williams to dip into the arc. France had lost by a solitary point.
It marked the final, dramatic denouement to an Olympic Games which has far exceeded expectations. Following a build-up where there had been fears of the far right coming to power, the city and nation, much like in London 2012, briefly became unified.
It was helped by Leon Marchand, France’s answer to Michael Phelps; the first-night heroics of Antoine Dupont in the rugby sevens; judo superstar Teddy Riner and the 1-2-3 in the men’s BMX racing; cheered on President Emmanuel Macron.
It was telling that even Macron received a warm reception come Sunday night’s closing ceremony at the Stade de France.
There had been critics of Paris in the build-up; a supposed vanity project to host the triathlon and marathon swimming in the Seine; so, too, a lavish opening ceremony on boats along the city's grand river.
But the odd suggestion of ecoli aside, the Games were magnificent; the triathlon finish one of countless stunning backdrops, following a decision to build the Games around the city, not vice-versa.
The aftermath of these Games will not be one of white elephants left empty as in, say, Rio de Janeiro. The only major new venue was the aquatics centre hosting the diving.
Instead, we had beach volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower; fencing and taekwondo under the glass-roofed Grand Palais; and the equestrian events in front of the Palace of Versailles. There has never been a visually more spectacular Games in the event’s history.
Macron himself declared them “magnifique”, while outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach labelled the past two-and-a-half weeks “sensational”. Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, said: “From one day to the next, Paris became a party again and France came back together.”
There was a feel-good factor from start to finish, as a city and nation totally embraced these Games, the noise deafening each time a home athlete competed an event, even it resulted in a last-place finish.
And that feel-good factor was not lost from those watching from the comfort of their sofas back at home; much needed amid a time of unrest, rioting and protest in many pockets of the UK.
The remnants of Team GB still in Paris will return on the Eurostar on Monday with a haul of 65 medals, largely in line with the past three Games.
And, yet, there is a slight nagging sense of the ones that got away for the likes of Josh Kerr and Matt Hudson-Smith on the track, or Adam Peaty and Matt Richards in the pool, but such are the fine margins in which the golds are decided.
While not quite bombastic, there was a feeling of positivity from within the British camp following medals across 18 different sports.
Andy Anson, CEO of the British Olympic Association, said: “I think the breadth of success is incredibly important in terms of the resonance it has around the country – 65 medals is a brilliant achievement. But it’s frustrating to be seventh in the medal table.”
But there was the glory snatched at the last minute, too: Alex Yee reeling in Hayden Wilde in the men’s triathlon; and the women’s quadruple sculls clawing back a deficit to win, aptly both golden moments happening within a few minutes of each other.
How does Los Angeles now follow Paris in four years’ time? We had a brief insight with a dusting of Hollywood gold, as Tom Cruise abseiled off the roof of the Stade de France into the closing ceremony and bands like the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed on LA's Venice Beach.
For now, we should simply be grateful to Paris. Merci.
