Two days before the ceremonies I did a ton of exploring to figure out where to see the ceremonies without a ticket, which cost more than I wish to pay. About 10 days ago I applied for and received a pass jeux. This is a QR code that arrived in an email, and allows me into the gray zones. These are the areas right along the river which include the seating for the ceremonies. I’ve been exploring with my pass jeux, which gets me through the checkpoints into these areas. I’m counting on being able to do that for the opening. Even though I won’t have a seat, it’s fine with me to just stand somewhere and watch.

On J-2 I took the Metro from my Air BnB in the 15th arrondissement up to Grenelle, got off and started walking and getting to know the area. I encountered my first checkpoint where they scanned my pass and let me in. This was great because there were hardly any other people walking and no traffic. The Eiffel Tower was nearby and knowing that the boat parade will wind up near there, I scoped out a few viewing areas. Then I decided to take a little walk up to the second level. Unusual that there was no waiting, even for the elevator, but I took the stairs anyway. After about 17 minutes of climbing I arrived. This level has great views as shown below:

Views from the first level are also excellent:

I had no desire to go any further than the second level.

On my way back down the stairs I got an interesting view of how the rings are mounted to the tower.

And here’s a more technical aspect of how the dead load of the Eiffel Tower is transferred into the foundation.

I felt satisfied about scoping out this particular area, and so I went back to my Air BnB and got ready for dinner with Véronique.