This is the opportunity to treat yourself to a souvenir of the last Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024. Costumes from the opening ceremonies are on sale until Sunday January 26 in Saint-Ouen near Paris. This is the very last sale of stocks for these 2024 Olympics, after those devoted to goodies for volunteers. There are dozens of pieces there, mainly dancers' costumes or a few accessories. The outfits of leading artists like Aya Nakamura and Céline Dion have, for their part, joined the collections of several museums.
Coming to get a little dose of the Olympic Games, Fanny, a theater actress, offers herself “a lovely little pink cardigan”. The garment is taken from the first painting of the opening ceremony, entitled La vie en rose. “I loved this ceremony so I feel privileged todayshe confides. Wearing things that have lived through life, that have a history, it’s a real pleasure!”
In this Saint-Ouen flea market, two large rooms are filled with dozens of souvenirs, which go quickly. Nina and her father set their sights on a huge red and white cardboard box, 80 centimeters high, filled with fake popcorn. It was worn by certain mascots, the Phryges. “It will be to decorate one of the girls' rooms, it will make a totemic memory in our houseexplains the dad, all smiles. During the opening ceremony, we were on the platforms so it is also this souvenir that we buy, that of a moment of communion and the beginning of this famous enchanted parenthesis for all”.
It will cost 70 euros to Nina and her father for this fake popcorn, 1 euro for a pair of socks and up to 800 euros for the most iconic pieces. This is the case, for example, of these key costumes : around thirty red or black dresses by Marie-Antoinette, seen in the different windows of the Conciergerie. “I just fell for this dressconfides Louis. It's a little expensive but it's a piece of history, it's a real moment of the ceremony that will remain engraved in our memories so I think it's worth it! I don't know yet what I'm going to do with it, maybe display it at home ? It's true that it takes up space …” “I think he's going to hang it at home in his living room, his companion intervenes. He's a big fan of ceremonies so for him, it's the Holy Grail today I think.”
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It is therefore the turn of the general public to grab these relics, but among the buyers we also find a few professionals, like Daniela. “I chose some nuggetsshe rejoices. The face of Marie-Antoinette on cardboard for example. I’m a dealer, I have a gallery so I’m going to put it on display.” An enthusiasm which Guillaume Peyranne, one of the purchasing managers for these Olympics, welcomes. “The objective was to offer a second life for everything we bought and could not rent, so that everything could be used againhe explains. Plus we're in Saint-Ouen, we started and finished in 93 so we're coming full circle.”
The money from these sales returns to Paris 2024. But in the long term, the organizers assure: it will be redistributed via the Olympic committee to the French sporting world. The sale runs from 10 hours at 4 p.m. hours, at 126 rue des Rosiers in Saint-Ouen in the Paris region.
