Crowds braved queues at security checks and heavy rain showers as they lined the banks of the Seine river in Paris on Friday to watch an extravagant Olympics opening ceremony that began with an explosion of smoke in the colours of the tricolour flag.
Olympics fever has been slow to build in Paris where local residents have complained about street closures in the heart of the city and local businesses have bemoaned a lack of trade as the French capital was transformed into an open-air fortress.
A flotilla of barges are carrying more than 6,000 athletes along the Seine river in a nearly four-hour show, with Lady Gaga singing and dancers set to perform from the city's rooftops.
I just cant wait to see how amazing the show will be, said Fejiro Ogbanufe, 37, a Nigeria flag draped over her shoulders, who travelled from Geneva with her three daughters.
Elise Boukorrass, 17, said she was super excited, it happens once in a lifetime after passing through police checks.
