In the gardens of the Chateau de Versailles, riders negotiated fences modeled on the Arc de Triomphe, the Eiffel Tower, Paris bistros, streets with a horse in their name like Passage du Cheval Blanc and a stained-glass window from Notre-Dame. France, aiming high for the Paris Olympics – perilously high, many thought – was not about to stick mere poles in the ground and ask horses and their riders to jump those obstacles in the former residence of kings.
Uncompromising French ambition has marked the remarkable 16 days of the Olympics, a miracle of detailed planning and execution at a cost of about $4.8 billion. Even if political problems flare again, a core pride at a remarkable accomplishment, impossible without the contribution of all sectors of society, appears likely to endure for a long time.
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