Opening Ceremony

In fact, many of the measures Joseph mentioned are already in effect. For example, in the entertainment industry, various awards and competitions are being implemented—from the "Paris Rose" competition involving actresses from various nightclubs to the world-renowned "Prometheus Prize." Various sporting events are also taking place; for instance, Paris has already started tennis tournaments in various neighborhoods.

The Ministry of Ministry of Truth even created "France Tennis Competition Rules" and a special silver-plated gold-plated trophy to be awarded to the overall tennis champions from various Paris neighborhoods.

Tennis was once very popular in all social classes in France (of course, a large part of its popularity was because its main purpose at the time was gambling). Because of its involvement in gambling, tennis caused a lot of trouble, so the Bourbon Dynasty simply banned it outright.

However, banning tennis won't ban gambling; gambling has many intricacies. Moreover, while gambling often leads to minor incidents, it rarely causes major upheavals. On the contrary, in a sense, it can be a form of stress relief and entertainment.

Therefore, after Napoleon came to power, the ban on tennis was lifted, and with the guidance of the Ministry of Truth, the sport is now even more popular than when it was primarily used as a means of gambling. The widespread development of community and inter-community matches has also made it a more effective form of entertainment.

As for gambling, it's not a good thing, but it does have some benefits, especially as a form of entertainment. However, it must be regulated and conducted in a moderate, open, and transparent manner. To put it more clearly, betting on tennis is permissible, but casinos involved in tennis betting can only be managed by the state. To be even more specific, it can only be conducted through the Ministry of Ministry of Truth's tennis lottery.

Besides tennis, the Ministry of Truth also introduced brand-new "football rules" and was preparing for community football matches. This became the origin of later football leagues.

Of course, the most important event right now is the Olympic Games. The Olympic Games flame has already arrived in the Britain, and the other flame should be on its way back from North America.

About ten days later, the Olympic flame, which had returned from North America, arrived in Spain.

The torch relay ship stopped in Spain for a day to check on the progress of the other leg of the relay and adjust its speed so that both sides could arrive in Paris simultaneously. It also replenished its supplies. After resupplying, it continued eastward, arriving in Marseille two days later. Meanwhile, the other torch relay team left Britain.

The torch relay within France is slower than in other countries. In other countries, the torch typically only passes through major cities, or even just the capital. However, in France, the torch travels in a circuitous route, visiting small towns one by one, including even those with only a few thousand inhabitants. Furthermore, each town is accompanied by a full-day, lively parade and celebration. This naturally slows down the torch's journey.

At this time, all the media outlets focused their reporting on the Olympic torch relay. For example, they reported on where the torch had been carried, the local customs and products, and the various events that occurred during the relay. Of course, each newspaper had a different focus. * Science Truth Daily * naturally focused on the local people's joy in welcoming the torch, * Businessman's Daily * emphasized local products and potential business opportunities, while * the Sun * focused on the romantic escapades that occurred during the relay (of course, these were all fabricated; but everyone knows that what's in the Sun is best read like fiction).

This naturally took a lot of time, so it took more than two months for the two torch relays to gradually approach Paris. At this time, His Holiness the Pope, along with a large delegation, left Rome and traveled by ship to Paris.

The French Navy dispatched a special fleet to escort His Holiness the Pope throughout his journey. Under the escort of the fleet, he disembarked in Marseille. Lucien, the France Minister of Ministry of Truth, presided over a grand welcoming ceremony in Marseille to welcome this distinguished guest and presented His Holiness the Pope with a gift from the France people to the Holy See —a marble statue of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.

Then, accompanied by Lucien, the Pope and his entourage traveled north by special train to Paris. The First Consul of France met with His Holiness the Pope and his party at the Consulate, where they held cordial and friendly talks on the development of Catholicism in the world and other issues of common concern.

During the talks, Napoleon welcomed the Holy See delegation to France to attend the first modern Olympic Games to be held in Paris. He told the Pope that achieving world peace was the most Christ act, and the Olympic Games embodied this spirit. The Pope's visit also fully demonstrated that the Holy See upheld the Christ spirit and was the true orthodox authority in the Christianity world. France was willing to work hand in hand with the Holy See to promote the spread of Catholicism throughout the world.

The Pope highly praised Napoleon's piety, comparing him to Charlemagne. He also commended France's great contributions to the Catholicism world. He stated that, just as Charlemagne received God's calling and became the sword and shield of Catholicism, he believed Napoleon and his subordinates would, like Charlemagne and the twelve knights, become protectors and propagators of Catholicism. The inseparable traditional friendship between France and the Holy See would undoubtedly be further strengthened.

Following the talks, the Pope visited Notre-Dame de Paris, the largest Catholicism in Paris. For the foreseeable future, until the end of the Olympic Games, His Holiness the Pope and his entourage will reside there. He will preside over a prayer ceremony for the French Republic and receive bishops from across France. Of course, this is largely a formality; the France Church is essentially independent. While they acknowledge the Pope as a spiritual leader, that is all they recognize.

In fact, the doctrines of the France Church differ significantly from those of the Holy See in many respects, even more so than the differences between the Anglican Church and the Holy See. However, everyone tacitly ignores these differences, behaving as if they were truly close friends.

Three days after His Holiness the Pope arrived in Paris, both torch relays returned to the Paris. On May 30, 1804, the two torches met in front of the Panthéon, and then the festivities began throughout Paris.

The torch relay in Paris proceeded in neighborhoods. On this day, the police designated many streets in Paris as pedestrian zones, prohibiting horse-drawn carriages from entering, and deployed a large number of mounted police to maintain order. The torch was passed through the various neighborhoods of Paris in a fairly orderly manner, without the stampedes that occurred in Britain cities not long ago due to overcrowding.

After a full day of relaying through Paris, the Olympic flame began its journey towards its destination—the main stadium of the Olympic Games. Approximately a thousand citizens followed the flame by horse-drawn carriages, horses, or on foot. Of course, those enthusiastic young people who followed on foot were quickly left behind by the relay-style flame.

At that time, the young Marie- Henri Bell was also in the group following the torch on foot. He had just retired from the cavalry as a second lieutenant and entered the Paris Polytechnic School to study, intending to become an engineer after graduation. On this day, he and his enthusiastic classmates ran after the torch until they were exhausted and had to stop.

As the Olympic flame receded into the distance, an exhausted Mali bent over, panting, and cried out, "Great France, please wait for your people..."

However, the torch relay didn't stop; France, too, ran even faster than the relay torch. At this time, Napoleon, along with a large group of high-ranking officials and the visiting Pope, had already arrived at the main stadium in Napoleon's special train to prepare for the opening ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games. If Mali's classmate hadn't rushed over with a rented carriage, Mali would have missed the opening ceremony. Although, because he couldn't get a ticket, he could only watch from a high ground outside the stadium using binoculars.

The opening ceremony was held on the evening of June 1st. This time was chosen primarily based on the following considerations:

Firstly, at night, it better showcases France lighting technology. The Moulin Rouge once creatively used various lights to adorn itself beautifully. Today, lighting technology has advanced even further. Although it is still far from the future, in this era, the France can already use lights to make the main venue look like a dream.

Besides the light show, fireworks are an essential element. A year ago, a laboratory at the University of Paris conducted systematic research on flame coloration in order to invent a new method for analyzing metallic minerals. This research, conducted in Military-Industrial Consortium laboratory, was transformed into various signal flares. Then, the related technology for signal flares was commercialized and became various fireworks displays. With the support of these technologies, France's fireworks technology is now arguably the best in Europe. And all of this necessitates that the opening ceremony take place at night.

The opening ceremony began, of course, with a speech from the leader.

First came Napoleon's speech. Napoleon began by expressing his wish for world peace, praising the Olympic spirit, and calling on all participating athletes to uphold the spirit of "friendship first, competition second" and to compete with style and skill.

Finally, Napoleon stated:

"The true essence of the Olympic spirit lies in 'pursuing people-centeredness and achieving self-transcendence and self-improvement.' Every athlete will showcase their superb skills, unleash their passion for participation, and create the glory they aspire to in a fair competitive environment."

A key mission of the Paris Olympics is to promote cultural exchange among nations. We sincerely hope that the rich history and culture of the France people, their vibrant cities and countryside, and their hospitable people will leave our friends with wonderful memories."

After Napoleon's speech, the Pope presided over a blessing ceremony for the Olympic Games.

After the lengthy and tedious blessing ceremony came the various performances of the opening ceremony. Due to the pollution from the future, these performances naturally turned into large-scale group gymnastics displays. To people of this era, these large-scale group gymnastics performances seemed to be a demonstration of some kind of military capability. After all, the disciplined troop-line shooting tactics had not yet been completely abandoned by some countries.

The first group exercise naturally focused on reviewing the history of the ancient Olympic Games. As such, this group of exercises would naturally contain many elements related to paganism, but everyone, including the Pope, ignored them.

It started by imitating the ancient Greece Olympic Games, and later it incorporated various parades from the Roman Empire, with crowds, carriages, and even a few elephants (brought from the Turkey).

Next came the segment depicting modern France. The group gymnasts, by constantly changing formations, spelled out France's national motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity," and at another moment, the slogan of this Olympic Games: "Science, Progress, Peace."

After the group gymnastics performance, it was time for the athletes from each country to enter the stadium. As the host country, the France delegation entered first, followed by other countries in alphabetical order. After the entrance ceremony, an athlete representative gave a speech. Then, amidst cheers, a torchbearer entered the stadium carrying the torch.

Upon entering the stadium, the torchbearer lit the torch held by the first torchbearer, dressed as an ancient Greece scholar, who was waiting on the track. That torchbearer then raised his torch, running forward and waving to the crowd, displaying the Moulin Rouge logo on his clothing. The spectators in the stands cheered and, as previously practiced, quickly created a wave.

The torchbearer had only run less than 100 meters when another torchbearer dressed as an ancient Greece knight was waiting for him—being a torchbearer at the main venue was something to brag about for a lifetime, so many people were practically fighting tooth and nail for that spot. In the end, the problem was solved by auction, and it is said that each of the five torchbearers in the venue spent an average of 50,000 francs.

The second torchbearer also ran while showing everyone the shield in his hand, which featured the logo of Bovan Insurance Company and the Bovan Insurance Company's advertising slogan: "Trustworthy Protection".

The third, fourth, and fifth torchbearers were all dressed as various ancient figures, and they all used different methods to display advertisements for a particular company.

The fifth torchbearer ran to the base of the main torch, where Pauline, dressed as Artemis (the goddess of the hunt), was waiting with her bow and arrows.

Because Artemis was the goddess of the hunt, she often needed to run through forests. To facilitate this movement, Artemis's attire was quite revealing. Like most Greece (Rome) goddesses, her blouse was sleeveless, completely exposing her two fair arms. However, the skirts of Greece goddesses were generally very long, reaching all the way to their feet. Even Aphrodite, the goddess of beauty, although often depicted with her upper body bare in sculptures, still had a skirt that dragged on the ground. Artemis, on the other hand, was different; her skirt was very short, even revealing her knees and fully exposing her snow-white calves. In that era, such attire was considered somewhat "shocking" or even "indecent." However, Pauline didn't care about any of this. There were already plenty of criticisms leveled against her; a few more wouldn't make a big difference.

It is said that after the Olympic Games, inspired by Pauline's outfit, many women in certain professions, starting from the Moulin Rouge, began an Artemis impersonation show. Considering Artemis's divine role, this was almost ironic. Conservative Britain newspapers and some Austria newspapers, in particular, launched a scathing attack on the trend led by Pauline. However, Pauline's response was to immediately launch the new "Chris" series of sleeveless short-skirted hunting dresses—though these "hunting dresses" weren't necessarily very suitable for hunting (except, of course, when hunting a specific type of prey).

Pauline held an arrow with an oil-soaked cloth tied to the arrowhead. She held the arrowhead to the torch, and it caught fire.

Pauline slowly drew back her bow, aimed at the main torch not far away, and then hurled a burning arrow at it. As the arrow fell, the main torch, filled with fuel, was ignited and burst into flames.

As the main torch was lit, Beethoven's "Olympic March" was played in the stadium, and various fireworks were launched, instantly filling the sky with colorful fireworks.

Fireworks, even in later generations, can still mesmerize viewers, let alone at this time. Moreover, the fireworks used by the France this time far surpassed those of any previous displays. These fireworks were launched into the sky by specially made cannons, each shell weighing far more than those people were accustomed to before, and using the latest time fuses, virtually eliminating the possibility of duds. The cannon firing method also allowed them to be launched to a greater height, enabling more people, including those who couldn't buy tickets and had to watch from outside the venue, or even from higher ground, using binoculars, to see them clearly.

"This is so beautiful!" Gazing at the dazzling fireworks, Beethoven said to his student Czerny, "Czerny, did you bring paper and pen? I've got another inspiration!"

The spectacular fireworks display lasted for about half an hour, and the opening ceremony ended amidst the booming cannons and dazzling fireworks.