As the Summer Olympics in Paris are winding down, it has been enjoyable to see the sights of the city and the countryside. The images on television bring back a lot of memories of my visits to France.

The first time I went to France was in 2005, when my parents, my wife and I and our two children ventured to Europe. My parents had been there before, but for the rest of us, it was our first time.

We flew into Luxemburg and went to my aunt’s house in Longwy-Bas, France. After a few days of visiting family, we continued on to Paris. While in Paris, we toured Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre, took a short boat tour along the River Seine, and had dinner in the second level of the Eiffel Tower.

Seeing the historical buildings and monuments in person was very surreal for all of us. In fact, my son said, “I can’t believe I’m actually visiting all these places I’ve only seen in our schoolbooks.”

From France, we went to visit family in Italy and in my father’s hometown in Sicily.

My second trip to France was in 2008 when my father and I joined a group from our church on a mission trip to Lyon. We worked on a construction site that was being transformed into a church and training center for pastors.

Following our time there, we left the group and took a train to northern France to visit my aunt and her family once again.

My third, and most recent trip to France, was with the Harlem Globetrotters in February 2014. On that trip, I saw practically the entire country. I was the P.A. announcer for the team, and we played in 19 cities in 20 days, on that tour.

We played in Calais, way in the northwest corner of France, all the way south to the Mediterranean Sea city of Montpelier.

In Paris, the Globetrotters had a sold-out game at Bercy Arena. During the Olympics, Bercy has been the site of artistic gymnastics, basketball, and trampoline competitions. This is a very unique arena that has grass on its slanted exterior walls. It was constructed in 1984 and has hosted many top-tier sporting events and concerts, including Madonna and Paul McCartney.

Most of the Olympics venues are outdoor stadiums or on the water, so there aren’t any others that I can say the Globetrotters played at, however, we did play in some of the other cities that have hosted other Olympic events.

So, watching the Olympics on television and seeing the sights, has really brought back some great memories for me. I don’t know when I’ll be able to travel to France again, but I’m looking forward to someday getting back there.

WATCHING THE OLYMPICS ON TV

The Tokyo Games in 2021 went down as the least-watched prime-time Olympics on record. This year’s coverage of the 2024 Paris Games has been the opposite for NBCUniversal’s family of networks.

According to Front Office Sports, the opening Sunday of competition drew NFL-like TV numbers, averaging 41.5 million viewers across various NBC platforms. (That nearly equaled the 42 million viewers who tuned in to watch the NFL’s most-watched regular-season game last year—the Cowboys vs. Commanders—on Thanksgiving weekend.) Through Thursday, NBC’s prime-time coverage was averaging 34 million viewers across all platforms, up 79% from Tokyo.

According to Mark Lazarus, chairman of NBCUniversal, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Olympics, drawing more viewers since the London Games in 2012.

“Clearly, the Olympics are back,” he said on a conference call with media last week.

The increase in viewership helps NBCUniversal justify the $7.75 billion the network shelled out in 2014 to the International Olympic Committee for U.S. media rights to six Olympic Games through 2032.

I don’t know about at your house, but at mine, my wife and I have enjoyed watching several hours of Olympic coverage. I work from home most of the time, so it’s easy to have the television on while I’m working. The seven-hour time-zone difference between Paris and U.S. Central time, is also much more convenient for U.S. viewers to watch events live, than Beijing’s (12 hours) and Tokyo’s (13 hours) were.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national level guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. This week, we will continue our conversation with local political analyst, Todd Huston, and we’ll talk with Dr. Bo Kirkwood about his new book, A Purpose Driven God. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.