This Saturday, August 3, 2024, the road cycling event set off from the Trocadéro, to cover part of the Ile de France and the capital, covering almost 270 kilometers. Spectators gathered in large numbers along the route, particularly on the Butte Montmartre, where spectacular images and photographs were taken on rue Lepic! An exceptional atmosphere and a scene so historic that it almost resembles a painting by Claude Monet, on display at the Musée d'Orsay!
Canadian photographer Bilal Aouffen, stationed in a building with a bird's-eye view of the legendary street, immortalized a moment in which numerous spectators waved French flags in the street or in their windows, in support of the runners, who passed by several times. The shot is particularly reminiscent of the French painter's 1878 painting,"La Rue Montorgueil, à Paris.Fête du 30 juin 1878".
The same lively crowds and the many French flags seem to be waving, but it's not the same street, even though it's just as narrow! As the work's name suggests, it was indeed the rue Montorgueil that was represented, and the festivities were linked to the third Universal Exhibition in the capital, an event every bit as significant as this Olympiad should be in Paris!
