As Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games for a record equalling third time – matching London – the city already holds enduring sporting memories.
This will be my eighth Olympics and, though a dinosaur in the world of journalism, not even I was around for the Games of 1900 and 1924.
In saying that, on a previous visit to the French capital, I got a glimpse of two of the stadia used in those Games while on a mission to go back in time.
Glimpse was the operative word for the 1900 venue as I was refused entry by security so had to sneak in through an entrance used by workmen.
It was easier to access the 1924 venue as it is the home of Racing 92 who compete at the elite level of rugby union in the Top 14.
The ground was hosting a schools’ sports day and was an open house.
How many of the children would have known that the 1924 Games featured Eric Liddell whose exploits featured in the award-winning film Chariots of Fire.
Liddell refused to run his favoured 100m as the heats were on a Sunday and it was against his religious beliefs. He returned on a weekday to win the 400m.
My first sporting visit to Paris was in 1991 to see the Los Angeles Lakers which was to fulfil a dream as a keen NBA fan. They had Magic Johnson in their star-studded line-up as they took part in the McDonald’s Championship.
Little did I realise that the following year I would see Johnson and the Dream Team at my first Olympics in Barcelona.
That was the first time the NBA superstars featured in the Games – previously it had been mainly college players because of their amateur status.
It was a golden era for the NBA which was why it was known as the Dream Team.
Johnson was joined by legends Michael Jordan, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton and Charles Barkley.
I was privileged to watch all but one of their games – the exception was their opener against Angola when tickets were like gold with everyone clamouring to see their first game at the Olympics.
Watching the Lakers fulfilled a dream and the next day there was another great memory.
France was co-hosting the Rugby World Cup with the home nations and were playing England in the quarter final.
It was one of the handful of occasions I have bought a ticket from a tout as I was determined to see England while I was in Paris.
If my memory serves me right, I paid about £40 which was a sizeable sum 33 years ago. I am sure I haggled the price down.
It was money well spent as England defeated the hosts at the Parc Des Princes, today’s home of Paris St Germain.
I was back six years later for the McDonald’s again, this time to see Jordan and his all-conquering Chicago Bulls, a team I was determined to see before they broke up.
I have since been back twice to see England play France – this time football – at the magnificent Stade de France, one of the world’s great sporting arenas.
There is no better sight than walking to the ground from the Metro for a night match with the stadium illuminated and like a giant flying saucer.
I have been fortunate to visit many of the world’s great sporting theatres, but Stade de France is up among the finest.
Sadly, England lost on both occasions in 2008 and 2017 but it did not diminish from the spectacle of attending a game at the stadium which I intend to revisit for several athletics sessions in the Olympics which I am sure will provide me with further enduring memories of the French capital.