Over the summer, Spring Lake High School English teacier Jessica Beebe attended the 2024 Paris Olympics. Over two weeks, Beebe and her husband saw 11 Olympic events. Beebe’s favorite event was beach volleyball in front of the Eiffel Tower at night. She described how awesome it was to see the Eiffel Tower all lit up behind the stadium.
Beebe and her husband had been saving up money for six years so that they would be able to take this trip to the Olympics. She mentioned that she had gone to Paris before and wanted to go back, while her husband had never been but always wanted to go.
Not only did they go to the Olympics, but they also traveled to the South of France. They went to Denise, France, where they saw where F. Scott Fitzgerald lived. Beebe mentioned how exciting it was to see where Fitzgerald lived, as she teaches English at Spring Lake High School and has taught his famous book, To Kill a Mockingbird.
“The coolest thing was seeing people from different countries cheer for other countries. We went to a Japan vs Brazil match and decided to cheer for Brazil while still repping USA gear. It didn’t matter what country you were from. Everyone was there to have a good time at this huge event.” Beebe said.
Another thing Beebe found interesting was that every Olympic medal has pieces of the Eiffel Tower in it. When they repaired and cleaned the Eiffel Tower, things would fall off, so they would take those parts and melt them down to put in the medals.
Beebe and her husband are already thinking about saving for the next one.
