The enchanted horse Zeus on display in Paris City Hall, here’s how to see it up close

PARIS OLYMPICS – After the Olympic cauldron in the heart of the Tuileries Gardens, the star metal horse of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony will also be able to be admired up close.

From Thursday, August 29 to Sunday, September 8, the duration of the Paralympic Games, the opening ceremony of which will take place on August 28 at Place de la Concorde, “Zeus” will be exhibited in the inner courtyard of the Paris City Hall, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

“Paris will allow everyone to discover up close one of the iconic symbols of its Games”announced this Monday, August 26, Pierre Rabadan, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, at Parisian. « Come in large numbers from August 29 to see it for free in the courtyard of the town hall, by registering on Paris.fr »specifies the elected official.

You will be able to register from Tuesday, August 27 on a dedicated page on the Paris City Hall website. An inauguration of this exhibition is planned for the same day in the presence of the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo and Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies. We are proud to allow the general public to discover this unique work during the Paralympic Games.”Paul Hudson, CEO of the Sanofi group, owner of the work, said to the Parisian.

On July 26, during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine, the mechanical animal, launched at a gallop, crossed the river from east to west, up to the Eiffel Tower.

A year of work to build this horse

During his ten-minute ride, dove wings spread over various bridges. These were “ to spread the Olympic spirit, marked by friendship and solidarity, inviting the world to come together in its wake”according to the ceremony’s designers, during a tableau named Solidarity.

This horse was also “ the incarnation of Sequana, goddess of the river and symbol of resistance”selon Thomas Jolly.

At the end of this ride on the Seine, a rider, wearing a cape bearing the Olympic rings, had reached the Trocadéro, opposite the Eiffel Tower, followed by the flags of the participating National Olympic Committees, to bring the Olympic flag. On the horse and under her mask, it was Floriane Issert, a non-commissioned officer of the national gendarmerie.

This floating mechanical horse, 1.80 m high at the withers, was designed by the Blam workshop, based in Nantes, “ and its construction took a year of work”AFP learned from the workshop.

“It is equipped with a flotation system created specifically for the needs of the opening ceremony by naval architects from Quiberon. The mechanism transcribes as precisely as possible the movements of a horse’s gallop.”it had been specified.

From August 29 to September 7, the Olympic cauldron will once again light up Paris during the Paralympic Games. It will be possible to come and admire it between 10 a.m. and 7 p.m., after booking a free ticket on this site.

Also see on Le HuffPost :