Some 18 months ago an eminent historian, a screenwriter, an award-winning novelist and a playwright began writing the script for the open-air parade that will launch the Paris Games on Friday. They had the onerous task of imagining a three-hour show that could speak not just to the French but to some 1.5 billion viewers worldwide.
On Friday at 7:30pm around 326,000 spectators on tiered seating on the banks and bridges of the river Seine will begin watching a spectacular waterborne show.
